Confusion
by Krazy Ky-Sta Hatter
Summary: Something happened to Rose and now she can hardly hold a though for a minute. But she can still remember a man with brown hair and eyes and a pinstripe suit. She knows that he has the answers… if only she could find him. Back in a world much like her own, but destroyed and run by a man called the master, things get dangerous. - Little bit of smut in chapter 6.
1. Decimated Almost Home

_**Yet another one that came to me in a dream. What if something happened to Rose and she could only remember bits and pieces about the Doctor, but has no idea who he is. And yet she still yearns to get back to him.**_

_**Set during the last week of the 'Year that Never was'. Rose is very confused and trying to find the answers.**_

_**Hope you like it!**_

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><p>.<p>

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***Confusion***

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**Decimated Almost-Home**

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The air crackled and with a flash, the blonde woman appeared in the alleyway. Tentatively, Rose stepped out onto the road. She gasped in shock.

This place had been decimated! It looked like London… a London that had been through a war. Buildings had been reduced to rubble and those that were left were dark and boarded. The streets were eerily empty and there wasn't a zeppelin in the sky. Wait, should there be zeppelins in the sky? She couldn't remember.

Mickey had said that he was sending her somewhere safe. This didn't look safe. She also didn't understand why everyone had insisted on looking after her like she was sick or handicapped! She could look after herself just fine, couldn't she? Sure she wasn't herself lately, but _still_. She was still Rose. She was just as strong and confident as she had… had she always been that strong and confident? But to suggest she take a break from Torchwood? Now that was ridiculous!

One thing she knew, this wasn't h… where she had been. She wanted to say 'home' but for some reason it had never felt like that, no matter how much her family told her it was.

Now if only she could remember who she was looking for…

She was always forgetting things. She couldn't even remember when it had started or why. It was probably a few months ago, but her whole life was a huge blur. Bits and pieces popped up, but they didn't seem to fit together. Like the memories of growing up in a council estate without her dad. And the face of a man… Slim and foxy with soft, deep, old chocolate eyes, really great gravity defying brown hair and a wide cheeky grin. Thoughts of him made her feel so happy and so unbelievably sad at the same time…

But despite all the destruction, being here made her feel extremely happy. She finally felt like she was - almost - home. And now if only she could remember. Mickey had said some kind of job… no a title… no, it was a name. Closing her eyes, she concentrated.

**?...DW…?**

_She sat at her desk at Torchwood. Desk work, she hated it! She wanted to get back out in the field and actually DO something! But her father had banned her from all field work. Yeah, because having a screwed up memory was going to effect her out there. Everyone was so concerned about her health lately, even more so than when she suspected the memory problems had started._

_They were trying to convince her to take leave, if only for a few months. But she couldn't leave. She lived for the excitement of field work, despite the fact it felt strangely hollow, like she knew she could be doing better. Let's face it, they were lost without her. For some reason, she was the only one who could understand the aliens. Mickey was a little put out that he couldn't. He seemed to suspect it had something it had something to do with something called a TARDIS. But all that word triggered in her mind was the image of a police public call box. There hadn't been any of those around here for a good ten years._

_The other reason she stayed was because she felt as if there was something she needed to do here. Something she had to finish… somewhere else she needed to get to._

_Suddenly her office door burst open and Mickey charged in, he was looking slightly battered. He was carrying a large bag. Without any explanation or hesitation, he grabbed her by the wrists and dragged her through Canary Warf._

"_Daleks!" he spat. "Who would have bloody thought they'd be in this universe too!"_

"_Mickey, what are you doing?" she demanded. "You're hurting me. Let go!"_

"_There's no time to really explain, Rose," he told her firmly. "But we have to get you back home."_

"_I can work on the field!" she said in annoyance._

"_No you can't," he told her. "None of us really can. These things aren't like other aliens. Their only objective is to kill anything that isn't one of them." Images of large pepper-pot like robots flashed through her mind brining a wave of fear and hatred. "We have some guns we made after you got stuck here, but we've never been able to try them before. This doesn't look like a fight we can win. But we'll try. And we'll keep you safe. We promised your mother that if anything really bad happened that we would send you back. So that's what we're doing."_

_They entered into the large top floor that she had come to call the 'white room'. She had never liked it in here._

"_Sending me back where?" she said in confusion. "Mickey, what the hell is going on?"_

"_We're from a different universe, Rose," he told her quickly. "And we're sending you back. This bag has everything you'll need until you can find the Doctor. It's got clothes and food, but you shouldn't really need them. There's a phone and a letter in the front pocket. The second you get back, call the Doctor and give him the letter. Remember Rose, CALL THE DOCTOR."_

"_What about my drugs?" she asked in panic. "It's bad enough with them, what if I end up in hospital again?" She shuddered at the memory of having Torchwoods private doctor come to her house everyday because her screwed up memory had caused her to forget basic care like eating and sleeping._

"_You don't need them anymore," he told her. "You'll be fine." He reached behind him and grabbed some sort of large button thingy and handed it to her along with the bag. "This has been working for months… I'm sorry we didn't send you back sooner. And I'm sorry we had to do what we did… Really Rose, I mean it." He seemed very serious and it was clear he was begging forgiveness for some wrong he had done. But he hadn't wronged her, had he? Clearly she just hadn't realised yet, especially by the way he was acting. Asking her to understand why he had done something…_

"_Mickey-"_

"_Just say goodbye Rose," he told her._

"_Um, goodbye. But-"_

"_Right. Now, goodbye Babe. I'm really going to miss you. You're my best friend and I love you. Now, take care of yourself, take care of the Doctor… and take care of the twins," he said the last part forcefully._

"_Wait, what twins?" she asked. But he didn't reply. He grabbed her hand and brought it down on the button. In the next second, she was gone._

**?...DW…?**

Right. The Doctor. She was looking for someone called 'the Doctor'. She looked in the front pocket of the bag, and sure enough, there was the phone and letter. She took out the phone and began to scroll through the contacts.

Next second a hand was clamping over her mouth and she was being dragged back into the alleyway, hiding them behind some rubble. She tried to scream, but the man holding her shushed her and pointed back out to the mouth of the alley. She watched terrified as three floating metal spheres glided past. One of them was armed with deadly looking spikes.

When they were gone, the man released her. He pressed his finger to his lips, silently telling her to keep quiet and gestured for her to follow him. She did as he asked and followed him to a near by back door. He knocked quietly on it five times and with the sliding of a lock, it opened. She was then dragged into the house.

The house was packed. Everywhere she looked people huddled together like refugees. They all looked at her curiously, their pale, sunken faces lighting up a little. She was lead to what looked like the kitchen where she was given some water, which she drunk gratefully. She only just realised now how dry her mouth was.

"What the hell were you doing out there? Are you mad?" the man who had brought her here asked.

"Um… I-I don't know," she stuttered. Truly on both accounts, she didn't really know. "I've seen lots of aliens before, but I've never seen one of those. What were they?"

The man looked at her incredulously. "Never seen them!" he cried. "How can you not know what they are?"

"I don't even know how I got here," she told him. Some kind of teleport or transmat or jump… but where the hell was she?

"What's your name?" he asked her curiously.

"Rose, Rose Tyler," she blinked at him.

"I'm Tom Milligan," he told her. "Those things are Toclafane. They're the Master's minions. Ruthless and bloodthirsty. They kill anyone. They came almost a year ago… actually, exactly a year in a week's time. Most of the human race has been wiped out. Where have you been all that time? You look fairly healthy."

"I don't know… I was in Canary Warf a few minutes ago…" He just looked at her like she was mad. - Didn't she realise that Canary Warf had been destroyed two years ago? - "I'm sorry," she told him. "My memory's terrible. I… had an accident I think. Anyway, it's hard enough for me to put my life in the right order, let alone the last four or five months."

Tom nodded sympathetically. "Well, it's late," he told her. "You must be exhausted and a woman in your condition certainly needs her rest. Come on, let's get you sorted out, shall we?" And so he led on, leaving her standing there a moment, thoroughly confused.


	2. Hell of a Shock

**Hell of a Shock**

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Her condition… _Her condition!_ Oh, so she mentions that she has a memory problem and suddenly it's all, 'oh you must be cared for and treated specially'. God, it was bad enough back home!

Still, at least it had scored her this comfy mattress. Most people didn't even have a blanket to lie on, but people had been more than willing to give one of their few luxuries up to her. All night people were being so helpful to her when she was probably better off. Did she have a sigh pinned to her saying 'give special treatment' or something?

Still, if felt nice to have the comfort. She was rather tired of late and her muscles ached. Peacefully she placed her hands on her stomach, swayed yet again by the disorientating feeling that they were resting higher than what she could see. Hmm, it was strange that she could feel so peaceful amidst the horror here. It was as if that empty place insider had had nearly filled. She had always felt so hollow back with her mum and dad and Mickey. Like she had been an extra piece in a puzzle box that just wouldn't fit anywhere, but someone had tried to squeeze her in anyway. Here it was like someone had finally put her back in the right puzzle box.

But at the same time as peace, she felt nauseated. And it wasn't the same nausea she remembered from a while ago, where she though she might have thrown up everyday. It was a nausea as if some part of her was wrong. She could feel it in her mind. A small connection to something was broken or mangled, making her feel terrible.

She felt a stab in her gut. Ugh, she needed some water. And wasn't there something she had to do? She went to sit up, but yet again was unable to push herself all the way up. It was like something was in the middle, preventing her from curling up properly. God, she must be getting weak if she didn't have enough muscle strength to sit up!

She heard a chuckle as she tried repeatedly to sit up. "Would you like some help there?" someone asked. She looked up to see a boy of thirteen, he looked so innocent and unsure. That look coupled with the dirt and bruises that marred his skin made her feel rather sorry for him. It was sad that someone so young would have to see such horrors. She was only nineteen when she had seen hers… Nineteen? Where had that come from?

She reached up and gratefully accepted his hand. Smiling he helped her up and she could finally stand. She placed her hands on her back, behind her stomach, to relieve it of a little pain. It took the pressure off a little.

"Thanks," she said, sheepishly. "I must look like a completely useless idiot."

"No, it's understandable," the boy laughed. "What with 'that' and all." When he said 'that' he'd nodded down at her tummy. She looked down at her perfectly flat stomach which was draped in clothes that were far too loose for her. She hated that her mum had gotten them for her… but her normal size didn't seem to fit. "I'm Luke," he smiled at her. "Luke Smith."

Rose couldn't help but laugh. "I seem to know a lot of Smiths!" she joked. "I have this friend called Mickey Smith… And I'm sure there are others. J… John Smith? Erm, someone beginning with 'S'. I don't know, I can't remember. My memory is as good as a gold fish's these days." She laughed humourlessly. "Anyway, I'm Rose," she held her hand out to him. "Rose Tyler."

Before the boy could reach for her hand, the small group of people near them parted and a startled woman burst through. She looked to be in her mid fifties, Rose couldn't quite tell. Her reddish brown hair was a mess and her hazel eyes were wide with shock at the sight of her.

"Rose!" she cried, suddenly hurling herself at the girl in a tight embrace. "Oh Rose! I thought you were dead! I saw your name on the list after Canary Warf. What happened? Are you alright?" The woman pulled back and looked at her in concern.

"Um…" was all she could say. She winced as she felt yet another stab in her gut. "Hi… yeah, hold on a second. Sorry, my memory's really scrambled. You look really familiar; just let me put a name to the face…"

The woman looked at her in bewilderment. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate.

Before her she saw the same woman, perhaps a year or two younger. She saw them arguing and bickering. She saw them laughing. She saw them hugging and talking quietly to one another.

"_Do I stay with him?" she asked tentatively._

"_Yes," the woman replied. "Some things are worth getting your heart broken for." She embraced Rose. "Find me," she said kindly, her eyes full of understanding. "If you need to one day. Find me."_

She saw her talking to that same mysterious brown eyed, brown haired, brown suited man. She saw them smile at each other and felt the stirs of jealousy.

"_Oh! Well, he's never mentioned you," she said snippily._

"_Oh, I must have done," said a beautiful, rather sheepish voice that even the memory of made her shiver. "Sarah Jane Smith. Mention her all the time."_

"_Wait…" she pretended to think. "Sorry, never," she said slightly sarcastically, with the intention to hurt. Who was this woman to come waltzing back into his life and start insulting her like SHE was the one invading the relationship?_

"_What, not even once?" Sarah Jane Smith said in hurt disbelief, sounding rather annoyed. "He didn't mention me once!"_

Rose couldn't help the gasp that escaped her as she slipped out of her reverie. Sometimes she slipped so far into the memories that she got lost in them. It was a little disorientating coming back to reality.

But as she looked back up at the woman who she now knew that she knew (and liked), but could only just remember, she smiled. "Sarah Jane Smith!" she grinned. "Ha! I remembered! It's so good to see you."

Sarah Jane smiled, though she was still very concerned. There were so many things wrong with this situation.

"So… Sarah Jane Smith, Luke Smith… Related or just another coincidence?"

"He's my son," Sarah Jane smiled, placing her hands on the boy's shoulders. But the smile felt from her face as Rose's screwed up in pain.

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Suddenly that same stab in the gut came again, more painful and insistent this time. She felt something burst and liquid ran down her legs. "What the hell was that?" she gasped.

"Oh god, your water broke. Someone get that doctor!" she called out to anyone who was sanding near by. One woman saw what was happening and ran downstairs.

"My what?" Rose cried in alarm.

"It's okay, Rose, stay clam. You're going into labour," Sarah Jane tried to sooth her.

"Labour? What do you mean my water broke? I'm not pregnant!" Everyone around her looked at her as if she were mad.

"Then how do you explain the very big baby bump?" Sarah reasoned calmly as she could. If Rose didn't know that she was pregnant, then something was very wrong.

"I don't _have_ a baby bump! Look!" she cried. She looked down at her perfectly flat stomach and watched as she placed her hand on it. Yet again she got that strange disorientating feeling of her hand meeting something solid before it should have and the feeling of her hand being out further than it should be. Like there was something there that she wasn't seeing.

Panicking slightly, she lifted the bottom of the loose flowing top and looked down at her stomach. It was still perfectly flat, but as if there were some sort of illusion, it flickered for a moment. For a quick millisecond, she saw a large, round ball of a stomach. The next she saw the same thing, but she was focused on a dark flat sticker looking thing that was stuck to the belly in front of her. She lightly put her fingers where the image of the dark sticker had been and she felt the raised edges of some sort of plastic.

Seeing what she was doing, Sarah Jane reached forward and touched the piece of plastic. Before her eyes, Rose's pregnant belly flicked between visible and non visible. Quickly, she ripped the thing off. Rose squeaked in surprise as the large belly became solid and real.

"Some sort of very strong perception filter," she mused. Why would anyone want Rose not to know that she was pregnant?

Rose gasped as another contraction clenched through her. "What the hell is going on!" she cried in panic. The poor girl's eyes were wide and frightened and confused. "Oh god, _Doctor!_" she cried out in alarm. Mickey had mentioned someone called the Doctor, but she still didn't know who he was. But she clung to his name like a hope and a prayer.

She winced again at the next contraction, just as that woman came back with Tom in tow. He took one look at her and sprung into action.

"Right," he said in a commanding business like tone. "Sarah Jane, take her into the next room and clear everyone out."

"I'm staying to help," she told him adamantly.

Tom nodded and turned to the room. "Someone go to the supplies room. We're going to need a tarpaulin, some towels, a little bit of string, any spare blankets and pillows, diapers and a small bucket of some kind. And can some one please heat up some water."

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People rushed into action and before she knew it she was set up on the tarpaulin in a small room alone with Sarah Jane and Tom, ready to give birth. She sucked in air sharply as she was hit by what must be the hundredth contraction.

"They're only a few seconds apart," Sarah Jane said in alarm. "She only went into labour fifteen minutes ago!"

"Then it's going to be a quick birth," Tom said as Rose gasped again. "Okay, she's fully dilated. I can see the head. Rose, you need to start pushing."

"Come on Rose, you can do it," Sarah Jane encouraged, taking her hand. Rose did as she was told, trying her hardest not to cry out - and with the lack of pain relief she wasn't doing too well. Sarah Jane used one of the hot facecloths to wipe at her sweaty brow. Two minutes later Tom was passing a tiny baby off to Sarah Jane, who wrapped it in a towel and gently cleaned it with a tender smile. "Look Rose," she whispered. "You've got a little boy."

"Hold on," Tom said as - instead of relaxing - Rose had _another_ contraction. "There's another one. It's twins! Come on Rose, one more time."

Rose whimpered, but complied. Pushing with all her might. Another few minutes later a second small cry filled the room and the second child was passed to Sarah Jane to care for. It was even tinier than the boy. She collapsed back against the pillows, completely exhausted. Tom tended to her while Sarah Jane passed the baby to one of the other woman who had been a nurse and stayed to help. Then she began stroking the damp hair off her face.

Tears slowly streaked down her cheeks. She was surprised how happy she was. An hour ago she hadn't even known she was pregnant and her mind was a mess, but she had never been happier.

"Good Job, Rose," she smiled. "It's over. Just relax." Rose looked towards the two little bundles in the nurses arms. Sarah Jane took the hint and grabbed the babies from her and passed them to Rose, gently resting one on each arm. Two tiny heads rested on her chest and two sets of blue eyes looked up at her. One pair startling and clear, the other bright and the colour of the sea. "A little boy and a little girl," Sarah Jane told her.

Rose didn't need to be told which was which. She knew that the absolutely tiny one with sea blue eyes was her beautiful girl. Looking at her little boy a name came into her head. The startling blue eyes reminded her of someone. She didn't know who he was, but the name came unbidden to her lips. "Jack," she whispered tiredly, kissing him on the head. Sarah Jane smiled at her.

Now she needed to name her daughter. Lots of names popped into her head. Jackie, Shareen, Victoria, Lynda, Margret, Jabe - no Jade, Flora, Gwyneth, Nancy, Cassandra, Harriet, Renette, Suki, Rita, Scooti, Ursula, Chloe, Ida, Yvonne, Gallifrey. Wait, Gallifrey wasn't a name… was it? But it did sound beautiful. And it was unique. Rose grinned, knowing just what to call her.

"Gallifreya," she smiled. "Freya for short…" Sarah Jane blinked in surprise before grinning, tears brimming in her eyes.

"You're naming her after Gallifrey," she said softly.

"I don't even know where it came from," she admitted. "But I like it."

"The Doctor would love it," she told her.

"Sarah Jane," Rose whispered. "The Doctor… Who is he?"

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><p><strong><em>Yeah, I can imagine that would be a huge surprise. Good on those of you who picked up on the clue in the flashback of the twins. Speaking of flashbacks, I'm having lots of fun writing them. There's another clue in the first flashback as to why she's confused. and there's one coming up.<em>**

**_Also, if you're wondering about when and how the tins happened, I tend to lead all of my Rose is pregnant stories back to my story 'Greatest Desire'. It doesnt make sense to me that they would sleep together and not really acknowledge it as a relationship. it's better if they had no clue it happened... much more of a surprise.  
><em>**


	3. Strange Children

**Strange Children**

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Sarah Jane looked at Rose in utter shock. "Wh-what?" she stammered. "Rose, how can you _not_ remember the Doctor?"

"I don't know," Rose said in tired frustration. "A few months ago my memory just _went_. No cause that I can remember or anyone could tell me of. It just scattered. And not just memories of the present, but past ones too. Nothing seemed to fit. I forgot people and faces. My own mother once or twice. And for a while I was so scatter brained that I forgot what had happened only a while before. At one point, right at the start they told me, I even forgot to eat and sleep. I ended up in hospital. No one ever mentioned the Doctor… Actually, it's fuzzy, but I think Mum would shoot daggers at anyone who even said the word 'doctor'. But that word kept popping up in my head. And… and I remember a face. It's the only one I can't place. I remember asking Mickey about him, but he didn't know. A man… an impossible man… he came out of fire. He's handsome and sweet. Tall and skinny. Brown eyes, hair and suit… I always see him in the same suit. But for some reason, I keep thinking that he had blue eyes and big ears. Ugh, it makes no sense!"

"That's him!" Sarah Jane cried. "That's him, Rose. That's the Doctor!" She seemed to pause. "But Rose… Have you noticed anything different about your memories lately... any change in the last few months?"

"Well, they have been getting clearer. I haven't been as muddled as I used to be. Most of the time I can remember most things all day. But… that's to be expected for a head injury, right?"

"It has been known for people who suffer short term - or long term - memory loss to eventually recover," Tom chimed in. "Could you please pass me the boy… Jack. I need to check everything is okay with him."

Sarah Jane took Jack from her arms and passed him to Tom before tuning worryingly back to Rose. "But someone put a perception filter on you so that you didn't know you were pregnant!"

"Mum and Mickey never mentioned I was pregnant. Maybe they didn't want me to freak out if I forgot… Oh heck, I don't even know who the dad is!"

"Oh come on, Rose! Like that helped now! Great idea! Let's make her forget that she's pregnant, because she's _not_ going to freak out when she's suddenly giving birth!" she said sarcastically. "And I'm sure if they reminded you enough... Even _I_ saw '50 First Dates'." She saw Rose's blank look. "And clearly you can't remember it," she sighed.

Suddenly there was a sharp intake of breath behind them and they turned to see Tom backing away from where he had placed Jack on the floor. The baby began to cry as he was left on his own. Quickly Sarah Jane picked him up and glared at Tom. Surely a doctor should know better. But Tom just looked pale.

"What the hell is he?" Tom spat looking at Jack in fear.

"What?" the two women left in the room (the nurse had left to give them some privacy) said in horrified confusion.

"That - that child. He can't be human. He has… he has…"

"Has what?" Sarah Jane demanded.

"Two hearts."

Sarah Jane's mouth fell open and Rose looked confused and shocked.

"But how's that possible?" Rose asked.

"Oh my god," Sarah Jane gasped looking down at the baby in her arms. "They have… They're… the Doctor is their father?"

"What?" Rose and Tom said in unison.

"There's only one man who could be the father. Only one man I _know_ could be the father... well, two, but Rose has never met the other. And no he's not human. He's a Time Lord. My god, Rose, you and… I knew there was something different about you. The way he looked at you."

"That doesn't really explain much Sarah," she sighed. "And what about Gallifreya? Does she have two hearts too?"

"It's most likely. Half human, half Time Lord… though Time Lord will probably be the more dominant gene." She placed a hand over the little girls back, feeling the steady beat of two hearts under her fingers. "Yes, two hearts."

"Wait, so I had sex with an alien?" Rose said sounding a little more like herself than she had in a while.

"Erm, well, when you put it bluntly… yes," Sarah Jane told her.

"I love him, don't I? The man I keep seeing? And we've been apart, that's why I'm so sad when I think about him… But why would he leave me? He said he wouldn't!" She blinked at the words that had come unbidden to her lips. Then she was hit by the memory.

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"_I thought you and me were… but I obviously got it wrong," she said to a rather annoyed and upset man in a brown suit. She could hear the tears in her voice and at the time she had been wondering if he could hear it too. "I've been to the year five billion, right, but this… now this is really seeing the future. You just leave us behind. Is that what you're going to do to me?"_

"_No! Not you," he told her adamantly the second the words were out of her mouth. The intensity in his voice was startling. She hardly ever heard him talk like this. He truly meant it. But she didn't want to believe it. Not when there was proof he was going to break her heart, right in front of her._

"_But Sarah Jane… You were that close to her once, and now… You never even mention her! Why not?" This time her wavering voice was obvious._

"_I don't age," he told her seriously, his eyes filled with pain. Tears glistened in them as they no doubt did in hers. "I regenerate. But humans decay. You wither and you die. Imagine watching that happen to someone who you-" suddenly he abruptly cut off when he realised what he was about to say. She had no doubt in her mind he was about to say 'love'. But had he been talking about Sarah Jane, or her?_

"_What, Doctor?" she said quietly._

_The Doctor stared at her intensely for a moment, willing her to understand. Rose was struggling to hold back the tears now. And then he carried on as if he had never nearly slipped. "You can spend the rest of your life with me," he told her. There was something in his voice that almost made it sound like he was begging her to do so. "But I can't spend the rest of mine with you. I have to live on. Alone. That's the curse of the Time Lords."_

The scene changed.

_Everything was gold. Brilliant golden energy. She was everything. She was a Goddess of Time and Space. She could control anything she wanted to. Fix any wrong in the world without destroying it. She held the entire universe in her glittering golden hands. She could see it all. But she was on fire. She was burning from the inside out. Her head was about to split._

_She watched as the man with loving blue eyes and big ears leant in and kissed her. As he kissed her, she felt the energy draining from her. The magnificent but deadly power leaving her body as he sucked it from her._

_Then, everything was dark. Her head was still burning and if she had been conscious, she would have been screaming. Then another light entered her mind, a soft, comforting light. The pain dulled right down from a mind searing burn, to a dull throbbing headache. That would hurt when she woke up. She hoped the Doctor would be okay._

'_There, there," a soft, musical voice soothed her. It was a woman with a voice so ethereal, it couldn't possibly be human with just one voice. She had many. 'I've got you.'_

_She heard words from a voice she had never heard before… or hadn't heard YET, as her gut was telling her. "I have to live on. Alone."_

'_Not anymore…' the ethereal voice replied. Then the light departed, taking the memories with it. But leaving behind a small part of that light in her mind and her heart._

Again the scene changed. A scene she was very familiar with. The one she saw in her nightmares. But this time, she heard his name.

_Her grip failed, and her fingers slipped from the leaver._

"_Doctor!" she screamed as the force sucked her back towards the ripping white wall and nothingness._

"_Rose!" he shrieked her name. She could see the pain and terror in his eyes. They both knew that there was nothing he could do. At the last second she was caught in her father's strong arms. And then they were gone. She would never truly see him again._

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When she came back to reality, Sarah Jane was leaning over her in concern and she could feel fresh tear tracks down her cheeks.

"Rose, are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay," she told the older lady. "Just having flash backs. I'm having a lot today. That's got to be a good thing. I saw the Doctor. They were about the Doctor. Except that second one, I have no idea what that was about." A huge grin - the first one in days - graced her lips. "I'm remembering the Doctor!" she cried in delight. She looked down at the baby in her arms. Gallifreya blinked back. "Mummy's starting to remember Daddy," she cooed. She might have imagined it, but she could see the smile in her daughter's eyes and felt a brush of happiness at the back of her mind.

"That's great Rose!" Sarah Jane grinned.

From where he stood, Tom just looked at them in utter bewilderment. He had no clue what was going on and half the things they said were gibberish to him. But he had heard Sarah and her son talking about all kinds of aliens as if it were the most normal thing on earth… Three years ago he wouldn't have believed a word that she said. Now he found it hard not to. He had often wondered about this mysterious man that Sarah would always say would rescue them someday. 'He isn't always here,' she had said.

He wished this man would hurry up. He wished that he would save them… if there was anything left to be saved.

**?...DW…?**

The Doctor sat in his tent. The Master wasn't here -as it was night - and he was taking a break from the Archangel Network. He'd been at it all day when he hadn't been crawling around the Masters feet. It was mentally exhausting work. Physical was already bad enough since he had the body of a hundred year old man.

He wasn't too sure if he liked his time off. It left too much time to think. Too much time to feel guilty and grieve or consider all the horrible possibilities. Was Martha still alive? All he had to go on there were rumours and the fact that the Master hadn't found her.

He used to take up this time with sleeping. But he did that only when it was needed now. Because the nightmares had gotten worse. He hated those nightmares. But no, they weren't about what was happening, they weren't even about Gallifrey anymore. No, for the last year, he always had the same dream, or variants of it.

He dreamt a little differently to humans, not much, but a little. His dreams were more solid. And more often than not - although he did have strange made up dreams - his dreams were memories. Memories of Rose. Always Rose. Some of them were good, and he liked those dreams… but he would always wake up feeling her loss keenly. But most often, he dreamt of the bad times. The times they were separated, the times he put her in danger. And always, always, _always_, he saw the horrible scenes of her burning as she was consumed by the Time Vortex, as she fell screaming towards the Void… that horribly painful goodbye.

But at the same time, he couldn't hate the dreams and the nightmares… because that was all he had left of her.

Though, he was glad that she wasn't here to suffer this pain.

.

Suddenly something tingled at the back of his exhausted mind. At first he thought that maybe it was the Master attempting another psychic attack. But it felt different. It was a new presence… No, sorry, two presences. There were two of them.

They were so small and innocent. Their presence reminded him of… No! It couldn't be! They felt like Time Lords - albeit young and ever so slightly different. But it was impossible! There couldn't be any Gallifreyan children!

Well… There was every possibility that the Master had somehow miraculously impregnated a human at some point. He wasn't exactly too sure what to think of that… Crap, the Master! Even if they _were_ the Master's children, or if they were something else entirely, he had to protect them.

Ever so carefully, he reached his mind out towards the Master. He had to be careful not to be detected. He wasn't trying to enter his mind or anything, just check his perceptiveness. But he hadn't noticed that he was tapping into Archangel yet, so that was a good sign.

Carefully, he skimmed over the surface of the Master's mind, checking to see if he had noticed. He breathed an audible sigh of relief when he felt that he hadn't. The drumbeats drowned it all out.

Whoever these two presences were, he had to keep them hidden. He had to keep them safe.

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><p><strong><em>WOW I LOVE FLASHBACKS! They are so fun to write! Though, not so sure how many I can still fit in. I tried to make her more bluntly ROse in this chapter than someone who is confused and scared. I just HAD to put in the 'I slept with an alien!' part!<em>**

**_And we finally get the Doctor in on it. Dont worry, I will also be bringing in the Master and Martha when the time is right... still a bit left to figure out for that yet, though._**

**_Please review!  
><em>**

3. Strange Children


	4. Memories

_**Hey guys, sorry this one took so long. I was so buisy with the next chapter and other stores that I forgot that I'd already finished this one. Memories are coming back, and things are starting to get dangerous!**_

_**Please review!**_

_**Enjoy!**_

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><p>.<p>

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**Memories**

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Rose was woken by the sound of scurried feet. Looking out the window she could see that it was only just dawn. For the briefest of moments she was confused as to why there were two tiny babies curled into her side.

She smiled when she remembered where she was… what had happened. - Hmm, that seemed to be an improvement. Usually it would have taken much longer for the information to filter back into her head. Especially such new, shocking information. But she didn't have much time to ponder on that when Sarah Jane came rushing over to her in a panic and began searching through her bag.

Sarah finally found the small black sticker that had been on her stomach and pointed something at it. A high pitched squeal emanated from something that looked like a lipstick…

"Is that a Sonic Screwdriver?" she found herself mumbling. She didn't know what a Sonic Screwdriver was, but it appeared her mind did.

"Sonic Lipstick," Sarah Jane gave her a tight lipped Smile. "I'm sorry, Rose, there's no time. I've reversed the perception filter to hide you from others not from the wearer. Hold on to the twins tight, try not to move and don't make a sound," she commanded. Then she stuck the black sticker on her arm.

Rose had never really done as she was told, but she could tell this was very important and very serious. She took a child up in each arm and curled the three of them up into the corner, staying as still as she could. She hoped with all her might that the twins would stay still too. There was a reassuring flitter against her mind. Looking down she saw her sleeping children still. As if they had heard her prayer.

"Good luck," Sarah Jane whispered to her. "I'll be back later." At that moment, one of those spike covered spheres came into the room.

"Lady must leave," it said in a childlike voice. "The Master needs Lady to work."

"Yes, I'm coming," Sarah Jane held her hands in surrender as she stood and moved out the door. She couldn't afford a glance back at Rose.

The sphere, Toclafane as Tom had called them (Wow, she actually remembered that!), swept around the room a few times, searching for anyone who might be left. But, not seeming to see anyone else, it left.

Rose waited until all noise in the house stopped. She could still hear the people outside being loaded into vans. She still didn't move. Five minutes later, the vans and Toclafane were gone. She stirred, thinking she was alone, but then she heard the sound of thudding footsteps up the stairs.

"Rose?" a voice called. She felt her body loosen up in relief. It was only Tom. "Rose!" he called again. Carefully she placed Jack on the mattress and took off the perception filter from her arm, just as Tom ran in. "Thank god, you're okay," he sighed.

"What's going on Tom?" she asked. "Where were they taken… why are you still here?"

"I'm a doctor, I'm needed for other jobs," he told her, coming over to help her as she begun to change the twin's diapers. Jack stayed still, just gurgled at her. But Gallifreya was moving and wriggling like she was never going to stop. "But all the people here… this is the Bexley slave quarters. Every morning these people are taken to work in the shipyards, building rockets."

"That's terrible," she gasped in horror. "That's wrong! Cant anyone stop it?"

"It's work or die, Rose. Those things are monsters. But there is one hope. There's a woman, Martha Jones. They say that she's walked the Earth, that she's the only one who can kill the Master. They're only rumours, but who knows she can. Maybe this will all stop when he's gone."

"There's the Doctor," she told him resolutely. "He'll help us. If there's anything I believe in, it's him." She blinked as the bold works poured from her lips. She let out a giggle. "Look at me. I can barely remember him, yet I think that I would give my life for his." She tried to push back the voice in her head telling her that she already had.

"He must be a good man," Tom smiled warmly. He knew from what Sarah Jane had said, something must have happened to this Doctor. Otherwise he would have come to help already. But Rose seemed so happy… happier than he'd seen anyone in a year. He didn't want to destroy that. "I wish I had someone to believe in like that."

"You'll find her someday," she assured him with a cute cheeky smile where her tongue stuck out from between her teeth.

He smiled at her again. Rose Tyler was special. She really was a ray of hope and happiness in these ever dark times. It wasn't just her optimistic attitude; there was just something about her.

.

With nothing else to do, Rose and Tom spent the day looking after the twins. She had no idea about raising _a_ child, let alone two. But Tom had been a paediatric doctor; he knew a thing or two about kids and helped her out.

Rose had yet to look in her bag, so they set to that. Rose put the letter and phone in her pocket. There were a few changes of clothes for her. And some food that she told Tom they could share between everyone in the quarters. And lots of baby clothes, both boys and girls… it appeared her family knew exactly what to expect. There were also lots more diapers and toys and things to care for the babies. In a hidden pocket, she even found a picture of her family. She put that in her pocket too. She noted with a touch of sadness, that she had a rather prominent belly. And though she looked happy, she still looked a little distant, like part of her wasn't really there.

Later she played with Jack and Gallifreya. She may not be a baby expert, but even she knew that they were very advanced, especially as they had only been born the day before. They were just as tiny as when they were born, but already they could support their own head, and move more than any other child of one day. It must have been the 'alien' genes in them.

Okay, admittedly she didn't know how alien they would be other than the double hearts. But she had some feelings about things. For one, she was fairly certain that they were telepathic. They seemed to understand her, and she knew what they needed.

Tom was very surprised by how fast they were progressing. And he was surprised that she was so attuned to them. She even had a feeling about how they would turn out.

She knew that Jack would charming and adventurous and incredibly smart and curious. Gallifreya would be hyperactive, stubborn, feisty and talk as much as her father. And they would both be utterly beautiful. She giggled as she played with Gallifreya's hair. She had a good head of golden brown hair on her already. But it was still fairly short. The front of it was sticking up, pushing together, a bit like a wild spiky Mohawk. It reminded her of the man in the pinstripe suit - the Doctor.

.

Rose had spent most of the day, talking to the twins, attempting to unravel her head, which had improved immensely since she had been in this universe. She could remember most of her life now, even though none of it was in the right order. And she still couldn't remember being pregnant, nor how it happened. But she could remember so much about the Doctor.

She was glad for that. She was happy that she could remember so much. It seemed like years since her head had been this clear. Perhaps the babies had helped clear her head for her. She could remember so many of the most precious moments of her life. And now, she couldn't wait to find him again. She knew he would find her. Because she would stop at nothing to find him.

It was getting dark by the time everyone came back. They all looked tired and weary. They also looked relieved, yet horribly fearful. Rose found Sarah Jane in seconds.

"Sarah Jane, what is it?" she asked as the woman slumped down the wall with her son.

"It's done," she sobbed. "We're finished."

"Isn't that a good thing?" she said in confusion. Sarah Jane laughed hollowly.

"Yeah, we won't be worked to death… We'll be killed by what we built. Rockets, Rose. Bombs. An interplanetary war. That's why everyone's so…" words seemed to fail her and Rose wrapped an arm around the woman's shoulders. Gallifreya was cuddled tight into the crook of her other arm. Tom, who was holding Jack, came to join them.

"It's only a few more days until launch," he said quietly.

They were all startled when with a crash the door swung open. They let out a relieved breath when they saw it was just an ordinary, rather bedraggled man. He had a hopeful grin plastered across his face. "She's coming!" he cried. He closed the door and came in further, lowering his voice so no one outside would hear. "Martha Jones is coming back to Britain. We've been sent word. She needs someone to collect her. Someone with transport."

"I'll go," Tom volunteered. "I've got the truck, I can take that."

.

And soon, with that, everyone was talking excitedly about the famous Martha Jones. All their pains and sorrows forgotten as a wild hope burned through them.

"So… she's looking for a weapon?" Rose clarified.

"That's what the rumours say," Luke told her.

"The Doctor would have hated that," she said. "I remember, he hated guns… I've fired one once. Shot out a window… I can't remember why though. But it makes me shiver."

"Yes, the Doctor always was quite the pacifist," Sarah Jane smiled. "Always ready to give people a chance." Rose couldn't help but smile.

**?...DW…?**

For the next three days, everyone was rather excited. The relief of not constantly working and the hope of Martha Jones kept them going. And it was all helped by Rose and the twins. She was like a breath of life and light in the darkness. She may not have been able to put her life in place, and she was living in a hell of a world, yet she was always happy.

Rose and Sarah Jane spent most of the three days taking care of the twins and talking. Sarah Jane told Rose of her adventures with the Doctor and her life afterwards. Rose had seemed very excited when she mentioned the Slitheen. She was sure that she had heard that one before. And she could certainly remember a creature of the same description… for some reason in a parliament building... That's right, they blew up Downing Street!

Rose then told Sarah Jane all she could remember. Some stories she could remember all of or most of, like her first adventure to the Parallel universe. (At least those made her memories of growing up without her dad make sense). Every day her memories grew stronger. It wouldn't be long until they were completely back… hopefully.

.

But it wasn't until three days after she had put the phone and letter in her pocket, that she remembered she put them there. Of course! If she called the Doctor, then she could tell him what was happening. He could come and fix this and take her and their children home!

Excitedly she pulled out the phone. She scrolled through all the contacts until she came to 'The Doctor - TARDIS'. That seemed like the right one, nothing else said Doctor, so she pressed the call button and held it to her ear. It rang… and rang… and rang.

She sat there for what could have been minutes, but still he didn't answer. Knowing him, he was off on some wild adventure. She'd try calling him again later. It was her only hope.

**?...DW…?**

"Sir," a man said popping his head into the room.

"What is it?" the Master snapped.

"The blue box is doing something strange, Sir. It's ringing."

Now the Master was interested. Who could be ringing the Doctor… who would be able to? He didn't even think that people _had_ phones anymore. Excitedly he made his way to the TARDIS and walked inside. The screen was still working, despite his tampering, and he could see the name of the caller quite clearly through the grating.

'Rose Tyler'. But that wasn't possible; she was trapped in a parallel universe. Then again, if she had the right technology… and now the walls between the worlds would be fracturing because of the paradox he was creating. Oh this was brilliant! If she really was here, he could use her to break the Doctor.

It would be so simple. Even just bringing her before him would make him weep. Killing her would shatter him forever. No, he could draw it out. Torture her, punish her. Do all kinds of horrid things and let him see it. And it would drive him insane to see it and be able to do nothing about it.

And he knew how deeply that pathetic idiot cared for the human too. He saw it. He had heard it in his voice the first time he'd spoken of her. And he had seen it in his dreams. That's right; those pathetic dreams of his were so strong that they had bled through the barriers the Doctor had placed around his own mind. The Master had been able to see them all.

It had given him perfect taunting material. He had even done his home work. When he had first arrived here in 2006 he remembered the Doctor's conversation with that freak and had looked her up. He was only slightly surprised, and very gleeful to find that at the time, the Doctor was still travelling with this Rose Tyler.

He had talked to her mother, done some research. He had even taken possession of all the family's belongings after Canary Warf. He knew exactly who this little, worthless human was. But right now, she wasn't worthless. She was like gold. She was his key to destroying the Doctor. And by Rassilon, he would use her.


	5. Captured

**Yet another one that is un-beta'd. I just feel that I've left you all waiting FAR too long. Seriously, I feel really guilty. Especially since I think I might have had this one finished since last month.**

**So, this is where we REALLY bring the Master and the Doctor into it. It really wasn't a good idea for Rose to call. I've taken this chapter easy in the 'torture' department. After he's had a little bit of fun, the Master is actually quite nice.**

**But don't worry, it's only the clam before the storm. Things will eventually get much worse.**

**Oh, and in this chapter, more secrets and mysteries will be revealed.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>.<p>

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**Captured**

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Rose stared dully at the wall, this was the most upset she had felt since she'd been here. But no matter how much she tried to shake it off, she just had the feeling something was wrong. She was feeling so down, that even the twins were rather subdued.

He was out. That was all. It's not like he spent every moment on the TARDIS. Actually, sometimes she had to talk him into spending whole days on the TARDIS… unless she needed repairs. He was fine. She'd call him tomorrow and he would come.

Sighing, she looked over at Sarah Jane and Luke who were trying to get the twins to sleep. But neither of them wanted to sleep. Jack was hungry and Gallifreya just simply refused, she wasn't tried - god, she was probably going to have insomnia even by the Doctor's standards! But both of them were agitated. They could feel their mother's worry and they could felt that something else was not right.

Suddenly the doors crashed open. But it was not an overexcited messenger this time. The room swarmed with Toclafane and they herded people up against the wall. A few men charged in after and began searching people. They were looking for someone. Someone specific.

Just then, a sphere blipped as it flew right up to her. "This is the girl," it said in a high pitched girly voice. "This is the one the Master wants." And in a flash, all the guards converged on her and were dragging her out of the house. Tom, Sarah Jane, Luke and many others all tired to protest, but were driven back by the Toclafane. One shot out its spikes, ready to kill Tom.

Rose was scared, but she didn't want anyone dying for her. "Stop!" she cried. "I'll come with you! Please, just leave them alone!" The Toclafane seemed to consider this a moment, then its spikes slipped back in.

Sarah Jane gave Rose a fear-filled look, Gallifreya was held tightly in her arms and the twins were crying. They hadn't cried once since they had been born. Rose sent her a look, and she knew that she couldn't give them away. She had to take care of them for her. Everything would turn out alright. It had to.

After a long last (well, hopefully not last) look at her children, Rose allowed herself to be led out and into a helicopter.

**?...DW…?**

In a matter of minutes, she was above the clouds on an airship. It was utterly freezing and she was glad when they pushed her indoors… and then she was alone. The doors around her were locked, but no one was escorting her or anything.

She may be able to escape. Eagerly, she began to search for open doors. Perhaps one would lead to a hanger or something. She tried to push down an uneasy, nauseous feeling that tugged at her stomach. Part of her felt like she was going to vomit. Something was really wrong here.

Eventually, after what seemed like an hour or two she found her way into a large empty room. It appeared to be the main deck… but where was everyone. Why would they bring her to a deserted ship?

"Rose!" she barely had time to turn before she was being swept up in a hug. "I can't believe you're here! How did this happen?" the man cried delightedly. When he put her down, Rose was able to get a better look. The man was wearing a black suit and had short, dark hair. His brown eyes were so dark that they were nearly black and had a tinge of madness and age in them. "Right, no time, sorry. Come on, we've got to get out of here. Allons-y!"

He grabbed her hand and went to run, but jerked back when she didn't move. "Who are you?" she asked. The man's face fell.

"Rose, it's me… the Doctor," he said, sounding slightly hurt. She knew he was lying.

"No you're not," she said firmly. Yet again she tried to stifle that nauseous feeling. But it was getting stronger.

"I am… I've regenerated again. What do you think?" He spun on the spot with his arms out to show her.

"You're not the Doctor," she said.

"Look, two hearts!" He grabbed her hands and placed them on his chest. She felt the two beats beneath her hands, but she still knew he was lying. "And the last thing I said to you was: 'Quite right, too. And, I suppose, if there's-"

"You're not the Doctor!" she said again, more forcefully. "I don't know who you are, how you know what he said, or how you have two hearts. But you're not the Doctor. My memories may be completely scrambled, but I know my Doctor, and you're not him."

"And what makes you think that?" the man's warm demeanour dropped slightly.

"You don't feel like him."

"Of course I don't! I've regenerated, a whole new body, whole new personality. You know what it's like!"

"No, you don't feel like him up here," she tapped the side of his head. "I never really noticed that before… not until he was gone…"

The man laughed, it sounded a little too cold. "You can't feel another's mind! You're human, you don't have any telepath-" Suddenly Rose gasped and doubled over as the feeling became too much for her. She felt it, she knew then what was wrong. "Rose!" the man cried in alarm. She could tell it was faked.

"Oh my god!" she gasped, straightening up and turning her furious eyes upon the man. "What the hell have you done to the TARDIS?" she shouted. "What the hell have you done to her? She's sick! Can't you hear her? She's screaming! She's in pain! She's-" Rose doubled over again and had to take shallow breaths to keep form chucking up all over the deck.

"I can't hear anything," the man said quite honestly (well, concerning the TARDIS, anyway). "I promise, the TARDIS is-"

"Doctor!" she suddenly cried as she felt a slight flutter against her mind. It was like the twins, only this time it was more familiar. Now completely ignoring the man, she turned and ran to where she felt him. She just knew where he was, like something was pointing him out to her.

She ran to the tent at the side of the room and pulled the flap back. Inside sat the Doctor, old and withered, with is hands tied to the tent post and his mouth gagged. He was looking at her in utter shock, as if he didn't believe she was really there.

"Oh god, what's happened to you?" she said softly. She knew that his age was not natural. He shouldn't look this old. She quickly untied him and pulled the gag from his mouth.

"Rose…" he rasped in disbelief.

"Shh, it's okay," she smiled. She lifted a hand and caressed his cheek as she untied the rope with the other.

Despite the horrid nauseating feeling, the sensation of feeling his presence beside her mind again, made her feel so much better. It was like she had finally taken her first breath of air, when she hadn't known she had been drowning for so long. And to feel his skin beneath hers was wonderful. Her memories were still fairly scrambled, but if one thing was clear, she loved this man more than anything. She could feel it.

Slowly an excruciating headache started blooming in her head to go with the sick feeling. She was so distracted by it that she didn't hear the Doctor's warning. So she was surprised when she was jerked back by her collar and forced to stand up. The man who had claimed to be the Doctor earlier leered down at her maliciously.

"So this is the great Rose Tyler," he sneered. "Welcome aboard the _Valiant_, Valiant Child. It was named after you actually. Found one of the Doctor's notes in the TARDIS with what the 'beast' / 'devil' / 'what ever it was' said written on it. I thought it would be the perfect reminder for him. We wouldn't want him forgetting you now, would we? After all, he's already replaced you. A girl name Martha Jones… quite beautiful for a human, don't you think, Doctor?"

The Doctor only growled in response. But the name rung through Rose's head… Martha Jones… that was the girl who was walking the Earth…

The thought was pushed forcefully from her mind as it exploded in pain, and she dropped to her knees, clutching her head. She was barely aware of the pain-filled moans and whimpers that were escaping her lips. Or the Doctor calling her name. Images and voices and emotions sped through her head, faster than she could handle. But she could feel them, they were her memories. Getting stronger. They had been restrained for so long. At first she had been getting them back in drips, then trickles, then streams. But now the dam had broken and it was searing her mind with the intensity.

"They're coming-" she gasped attempting standing up, her sentence cut off as she resisted the feeling of nausea again. "So many," she moaned, only managing to stand doubled over. "Too many. It's back!"

"Rose!" the Doctor cried, panicked. "Master, leave her alone. Stop it! She hasn't done anything!"

"I'm not doing anything," the Master said raising his hands. "I think she went insane all on her own. Hmm, we may get along after all," he grinned.

"Make it stop!" she hissed. "Please make it stop. I don't want to remember…" she said as the feelings and emotions of their separation finally came back to her. It was torture. Her heart was breaking oh so painfully right here, when he was with her.

And suddenly the memories stopped. She was still missing the last few months in the parallel world, but the rest of her life as back in order. She could remember it all. She would have whooped for joy if her skull wasn't still being prised open.

When it finally calmed down to a dull throb, she was curled in a ball on the ground. She was shaking and her breath was coming out in sharp gasping pants, like she had been crying.

"Rose…?" she could hear the Doctor's frail voice.

"I'm okay," she tried to reassure him. But everyone knew she was lying.

Suddenly the Master began to laugh. "Oh, this is going to be so much _fun_." He grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her up roughly. "What do you think Doctor, what should we do with our little prize here, first."

"Leave her alone," the Doctor growled.

"Aww, but I've got such good ideas planned. I was going to get her to work with our lovely Tish and Francine, but that's too easy. Fine, I do have a heart… two of them. I'll let you two have a little bit of a catch up. Then the _real_ fun begins."

He snapped his fingers and a bunch of people came in, including a few women in maid outfits and a good amount of guards. One of them handed the Master a pair of long chained handcuffs. He closed one end around her wrist, before dragging her over to the rail, looping it through, and cuffing her other wrist. She was just out of reach of the tent.

The Master took a second pair of shorter handcuffs and chained one of the Doctor's wrists to the centre post of the tent.

"Hmm, _no touch_… now why does this seem so familiar," the Master mused. Then he turned away laughing.

**?...DW…?**

"Rose… are you alright?" the Doctor croaked quietly.

"As alright as I can be in this situation," she replied. She was overjoyed that she had the majority of her memories back, and that she was with the Doctor again, but those two good things were heavily outweighed by the bad. She was trapped on a ship, chained up. Something had happened to the Doctor. The Master, some kind of Time Lord psychopath wanted to hurt her. And she was separated from her children.

It felt horrible, this separation. She could feel how far way they were. And she could feel their distress. They missed her. They wanted her back. They were panicking. Using as much energy as she could afford, she pushed feelings of reassurance through the bond. She felt them calm, somewhat, but she knew they still weren't happy.

"How did you get here?" he asked.

"Dimension Cannon. I was working on it before… well, before my mind got screwed up," she whispered back.

"Hang on, what do you mean 'mind got screwed up', you said something about that before."

"Something happened to me, back on the parallel world. I still can't remember what. But my mind made no sense. I only just got most of my memories back."

"So, no need to miss me," he tried to joke, but his eyes were too sad. Looking in them, they seemed so much darker, and so much sadder. The look in his eyes was worse than when she first met him. Terribly horrible things must have happened while she was gone.

"No, I still missed you. Those pinstripes are pretty hard to forget," she attempted a grin. "Had no idea who you were, but I still knew I was missing something. It still… hurt. But anyway, I was there for at least four months before it happened."

Then she thought of something. Huh… she had been pregnant for four months before she lost everything… How had she _not_ noticed that?

"I missed you too," he whispered. "So much." She wasn't expecting the tears that rose in her eyes.

"Doctor, what has he done to the TARDIS? It hurts."

"He's turned it into a Paradox Machine. It's allowing two different times to exist together, with out cancelling the other out. It's holding it stable. Probably weakened the wall between the worlds, which is how you were able to get here… Hang on, you can fell the TARDIS?"

"Erm, yeah, I guess," she said. "I just feel… sick, and in pain. It didn't start until I was near the ship and it gets stronger the more I moved that way." She pointed in the direction it seemed worse. "I don't know, something in me just thought it was the TARDIS."

"If I could reach you, I would be checking your mind right now. You shouldn't be able to feel the TARDIS, or me for that matter. You shouldn't even have the slightest telepathic ability."

"I don't know, but a lot of things have changed," she said honestly. "If I'm not even a little telepathic, then how did I feel you and the-" she cut herself off before she said 'twins'. It really wouldn't be fair to tell him like that. And she had a feeling the Master had cameras and / or microphones around here. She couldn't let him find out about the twins. "TARDIS," she said instead. It wasn't exactly a lie either. "I didn't even notice anything until we were separated. It just seemed… normal, like it was natural, like it had always been there… Then just… nothing. I felt empty. I - I became desperate to find a way back. Spent as much time as I could working on the Dimension Cannon… I think I went a little mad… And, ah, anyway, that's all I can remember," she said quickly. "There's just a month of absolutely nothing, and five of just jumble. That's six months of memory gone. Oh well, they probably weren't very good. Still, it would have been nice to remember…" '_…being pregnant._'

"I'm so sorry, Rose," he murmured. "I… I can't think how this could have happened. When we get out of here, I'll have to run some tests to make sure you're okay." He sighed and ran a hand over his face. "It's been a long two years without you."

"Two years!" Rose cried. "It's only been about nine months for me!"

"How long have you been back?" he asked.

"Little under a week. Sarah Jane took care of me while my mind was a mess."

"She's alright?"

"As much as you can be in this situation," she told him. "Doctor, what happened here? And who's this Master guy? He can't really be a Time Lord, can he?"

"He is," the Doctor said mournfully. "An old friend, actually. He ran away from the Time War and used this device to make him human. We found him in the year 100 Trillion - the end of the universe. He had no idea who he really was… the device gives you a whole other life in your head and stores your memories and DNA code in a watch. Anyway, he opened the watch and became himself again, hijacked the TARDIS back to 2006 and turned her into a Paradox Machine."

"That's why she's screaming…" Rose murmured. She felt tears in her eyes. It was all too much. The TARDIS, what had happened to the Doctor, being separated from her children… As if they could sense that thought, another wave of loneliness washed through her bond with them.

"Rose, are you alright?" the Doctor asked her, sounding worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she lied. Because what else was she supposed to tell him. She couldn't let him know about their children. Because then the Master would know. And who knew what he would do if he found out. She shuddered just _thinking_ of what he had in store for _her_.

Sadly she fingered the letter in her pocket. And tried to think of a way she could let him know.

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* * *

><p><em><strong>So, what do you think? I thought it would be funny to have the Master try and trick Rose into thinking he was the Doctor, and use her like that. But she's telepathic and knew the difference. And that, my friends, is also a piece of the puzzle as to the memory problem.<strong>_

_**Also, I thought I would be nice and let her have all her memories back. Except the month before the memory problems started. But the five months after that are irreversible. In the next chapter, she's going to remember another thing though.**_

_**Now, I'm only evil mastermind level 1. I'm not very good with coming up with horrible and evil things. And I need was the Master can torture Rose and the Doctor. After reading this, do you have any ideas? Because I need a whole platoon of ideas and one or two he can carry out. Remember that he cant exactly get into her head, her mind is too strong.**_


	6. Keep it Secret

_**Sorry this one took me so long. I've actually had this one done for a very long time. But I wanted to edit a story of mine that this chapter relates to, but I gave up on that. I'll change it later. I've still got another chapter to post after all.**_

_**Okay, now I've had to change this to 'M'. Let's just say that there is a scene in here that explains the twins. It's in a dream flashback. But if you don't want to read the smuttiness, you can skip over that part and read my story 'Greatest Desires' - that will pretty much give you the gist of it… Actually, it might help to read it anyway.**_

_**Just so you know, it is my first attempt at smut, but I didn't really want it to turn into porn, so it's only short.**_

_**I hope you enjoy anyway.**_

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><p>.<p>

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**Keep it Secret**

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They had spent the rest of the day talking in a hushed whisper. They told each other what had been happening since they were separated. Stories of their adventures. But they were both deeply worried.

The Master had been quiet for hours. He hadn't been seen since he left the two of them to chat. They both dreaded to think what he was planning. They were wary and cautious as they spoke, careful not to let anything he may be able to use against them slip.

Rose, even after regaining her memories, was lacking in stories to tell. So she listened as the Doctor told her about what he had done in her absence. He told her about Martha and how brilliant she was - although, he profusely told her that she hadn't replaced her, that no one ever could.

When it was dark, the crew - who had suddenly appeared after the Master had left - started to head off. The two women, who the Doctor had said were Martha's mother and sister, were escorted away from their duties. A guard came over to them and unchained the Doctor and took one of Rose's cuffs off and closed it around the bar it had been looped around. Without a word, he moved off.

"Why are you free?" she asked in confusion.

"The Master likes to show off in the mornings," he said bitterly. "It wouldn't be as much fun for him if he has to pause to set me loose."

"Why haven't you tried to stop him?" he asked softly. Her tone wasn't accusing.

"Martha's our only hope," he told her. "Besides, it's pretty hard to escape this place. It's not worth the extra punishment… and now with you here…"

"It's always worth being free," she told him. "It's always worth being happy. There are people out there being held captive with children who miss them and need them. They would do anything to get back. People are suffering out there. It's always worth being free."

Smiling sadly, he shuffled over to her and cupped her cheek in his hand. The first time they had been able to touch since he'd first found him. "You should sleep," he murmured. "You look exhausted."

"So do you," she countered.

"Yes, I also look 100 years old," he laughed. "I still sleep as much as I used to. Now come on, you're going to need some rest." He reached inside his tent and grabbed out the blanket, laying it over her.

Sighing, Rose lay down and tried to find a position that was comfortable, which was difficult on the hard floor with one wrist chained to the rail. But no matter what she did, she would never be comfortable. It was wrong; her arms were empty. It was her first night without her children since they had been born. And she hated it. She could feel at they were sleeping restlessly, longing to be in her arms, just as she needed them to be.

The Doctor watched her shift restlessly. He wasn't sure whether he should be overjoyed or terrified that she was here. It saddened him that her time in the parallel world had been worse than he imagined. And he got the feeling she wasn't telling him something. He could tell by her eyes that she wanted to tell him something, but she probably didn't want the Master to find out.

Looking at her, he felt a sense of loneliness, her arms were empty. And it wasn't right. He realised that this was how she was feeling right now. Somehow she had become telepathic, and how she felt was bleeding through to him.

Knowing he'd pay for it in the morning, he shuffled closer to her and pulled her into his arms. She sighed in content as she snuggled into him and the empty feeling lessened.

"I miss them," she murmured. Her hands twitched around him, like they were grasping for something else.

Of course, Mickey and Jackie. She hadn't come through with anyone else, she had been by herself. Mickey and Jackie and everyone else she cared for were still on the other side of the Void. She was stuck in this hell of a world without them.

He stroked her hair soothingly, and soon she drifted to sleep. Falling into dreams that hew wasn't sure whether they were good or bad. He could only hope that they were good. That she could have the chance to escape this hell, even for a little while.

When he wasn't quite so absorbed by his lost love, he noticed something else. The babies, the Time Lord children. Their minds were crying out, reaching for something they couldn't find. If they went on like this, the Master would sense them soon… if he hadn't already.

Using what power he already had from tapping into the Archangel Network, he wrapped a cloak around them, shielding them from all telepathic minds. Even his own.

**?...DW…?**

_Rose could sense his urgency and his panic. They had to stop it fast. They wouldn't have time to run to the next tower, let alone get out of range. And he was susceptible to its influence now. They were both vulnerable._

_As they had climbed and descended the towers, she had listened as he had spouted out theories as to how it worked. He had told her that it seemed to be getting worse. That the more you were exposed to it, the more intense the reaction. And possibly even longer effects. And considering what she had done…_

_He had said that it would be much worse for him too. Something about his brain working different to a human's and that he may have had twice the mental protection, but for him it would be twice as bad. She could tell that he was terrified. He had admitted that he repressed a lot of desires…_

_Suddenly she was thinking of what she had seen on the security camera, the ferocity the Doctor had kissed her with. He hadn't been under the pulses influence then…_

_They had only just reached the ground level of the tower when she felt the impact around her and the sonic pulse rung through her ears. Again her mind was getting foggier and foggier…_

_._

_Suddenly she became keenly aware of just how tight he was holding her hand. She wished that it wasn't just her hand he held that tight. They stopped running and she found herself looking up into his deep brown eyes. There was a fire within them that she felt burning inside her too. That fire spread through her body and pooled below her stomach._

_Next thing she knew he was pulling her to him. She came more than willingly and kissed him fiercely. He was kissing her back, kissing her passionately, pressing her against the wall so there was as little space between them as possible. But it still wasn't enough._

_She wanted… she needed more of him. She feared that she may never get enough. She needed to be with him forever. He was her Doctor, hers alone. She may die if they had to be apart. And she would never let that happen. She needed him more than anything. She needed to be closer than this._

_Slowly her hands slipped down from his neck and began pulling away his jacket. Wanting the same as her, he all too eagerly helped. It fell to the floor and she groaned into his mouth as he ground his hips into her._

_Then he paused a moment, leaning in towards her ear. "Not here," he said in a husky voice. Taking her by the hand he led her out, back to the TARDIS._

_._

_Once they were inside The Doctor ran over to the console and he began flicking switches. She didn't know what he was doing but it was painful to be this far away from him. She needed him now. So before he could turn back to her, she slipped in front of him and sat on a clear spot on the console._

_Then he was kissing her again as she pulled off his shirt. His hands found the bottom of her sundress and soon that was on the floor too, along with her bikini top._

_They were pressed together, body to body. His bare skin against hers felt like bliss. He toed off his converse before pulling her to him, her legs wrapped around his waist, and carried her off to his bedroom. Their mouths hardly ever broke contact. They were desperate for that contact. She needed it more than she had ever needed anything before. She needed him._

_He placed her on the bed and stood again to attack his buckle and pushed down his pants and his underwear at the same time. Then he was on top of her again, pressing into her as he kissed her._

_Slowly he slipped down her body, placing open mouthed kisses down her stomach. His fingers curled under the elastic of her bikini bottoms and he dragged them down, kissing her leg as he followed it. Once they were off, he went back up, kissing the other leg. She gasped as he got closer to where she wanted him._

_The first touch nearly did her in there and then. She cried out, as his tongue slowly lapped at her folds, caressing her clit. He groaned as if he were tasting the most exquisite thing ever, and she felt the vibrations of it against her sensitive skin. He reached up a hand and pushed two fingers into her, the sensation of his long fingers and that glorious tongue had her whimpering for release in seconds._

_Her movements became more erratic and soon she was crying out his name as she came. She had barely regained her breath when he was kissing her again. She could taste herself on his lips and feel his rather impressive erection pressing against her._

"_I need you, Rose," he murmured against the shell of her ear. "Let me make love to you."_

"_Yes. Oh god, yes!"_

_And then he was insider her. He stilled a moment to let them get used to the feeling before he slowly began rocking. Her moans and cried encouraged him to go faster, and soon they were both tumbling over the edge of ecstasy. She cried at as she came again, and only a moment later, the Doctor followed her, spurting his seed inside her._

_He pulled out of her and Rose kissed him softly before slipping off the bed. She made her way to where their clothes lay in a pile and picked them up._

"_What are you doing?" he said suspiciously._

"_Nothing," she replied innocently. But then she bolted from the room. He jumped up and followed her._

"_Hey! I need those!" he cried reaching for his trousers. But she put another burst of speed and was out of his reach again. "…Well, no, I don't need them, but… I need those!" When he reached the console room, she had already put her bikini bottoms back on and was just slipping the top back over her head. His eyes roamed hungrily over her. "You look beautiful," he told her sincerely._

"_I love you, Doctor," she replied. He grinned as he picked up his trousers and pulled them on - sans underwear since they'd gotten lost somewhere down the hall._

"_I love you, too," he told her. He looked her in the eyes, even though he was pulling his shoes back on. "And Rose… My real name is-"_

_._

_Suddenly it felt like a ten tone truck of bricks had slammed into her head. She couldn't remember anything that had happened for the last… how long. The last thing she heard before she passed out, was the Doctor say a word in a different language. It made her feel sad and fearful and yet it sent a thrill of pleasure through her… And then the world faded to black and she remembered no more._

**?...DW…?**

Rose woke with a startled gasp. Her head hurt like it had in the dream. That blasted dream. For a moment she thought it had been just that. A dream. A _sex_ dream at that. But there was something different about it. It had the feeling of a memory… That, and she could still remember an adventure she and the Doctor had had little over nine months ago. An adventure that caused them to act on their greatest desires… and left them with no memory of it.

Was that it? Was that the memory she had always been missing? Was that how she had gotten pregnant? Something in her knew that the answer was yes to all of these.

"Rose, are you alright?" a voice broke her out of her reverie. She looked up to find herself still resting in his arms. He was looking down at her in concern and probably had been since she had woken.

"Yeah, sorry. Just remembered something in a dream…"

"Must have been one heck of a memory. It's got you staring off into space."

"Yeah, well, I never thought I'd get that memory back," she told him. "Have you remembered it yet?"

"Remembered what?"

"Splash Planet. Remember, we went to New Zealand in… 2140?"

"2148," he corrected. "Yeah, I remember… Well, I don't, but you know what I mean."

"So, you still don't remember what we…"

"Did when the pulse affected both of us?" he finished for her. "No."

"I do," she told him. She felt him stiffen slightly.

"Erm… which time?"

"Just the second," she said. He relaxed beneath her. "But I already knew what happened the first time. I was alone in the security room for how long before you ever so tactfully stood in front of the screen?" She giggled when he began to stutter. "I seem to have made a habit of that, haven't I? Attacking you and kissing you. Must be because you never complained. In fact, you looked like you were rather enjoying it last time," she teased.

The Doctor reached up with his free had and rubbed at his neck, saying nothing, but she could just imagine his anxious expression. "Yeah, well…" he said at a little bit of a loss what to say. He couldn't actually think of anything.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm the one who threw myself at you… again," she laughed quietly. "Any other kisses I don't remember?" she said cheekily. But she paused when she felt him shift uncomfortably. "Oh my god! There is!"

"I - I had to take the Time Vortex out of you," he said weakly.

"Wait… so that was a real memory?"

"You remember it?" he said in surprise.

"Yeah, I'd just…" she stopped herself from saying it, looking around the room cautiously as if she would be able to see the microphones. "…And I was talking to Sarah Jane. Then I just had some flash backs about you. First full memories I'd had of you in months. Before that it had just been flashes."

"What _did_ happen to you?" he said more to himself.

"I don't know, I still can't remember the accident."

"A brain injury couldn't do what you've described though," he said. "Did you come into contact with any alien that may have been able to…" he faded out when he looked down and saw her raised eyebrow in the darkness. "Right. You don't remember."

She looked up at him, her mouth slightly open as she looked for a way to tell him. Even if she could just hint at it. Letting him look through her mind crossed her thoughts, but it was instantly brushed away at the thought that the Master would be able to do that to. He wasn't dumb. He'd know.

The Doctor seemed to pick up that she wanted to tell him something and that she was hesitant because she was afraid of the Master finding out. He just shook his head and looked about the room too. "Don't worry about it," he said. "Tell me when you can." She nodded. He had done well to make it sound as if they were still talking about their previous conversation.

Sleepily she nodded and snuggled back into him. She could tell him about the twins when they got out of this. It couldn't be too long now, could it? And Sarah Jane had the twins. They were safe and sound. They would be fine…

As she slipped into sleep again, she knew that something was wrong. Something was missing… Her second sleep was just as restless as another dream took her. This time she dreamt that she couldn't find her children. They were gone. She couldn't find them. No matter where she looked, no matter how far she stretched her mind… They were gone.

.

"Jack!" she screamed out as she woke up. The image of the Master dragging away her son still haunting her mind.

"Rose, it's oaky," the Doctor whispered, squeezing her hand. Looking up, she saw that he had moved back into the mouth of his tent, but had stretched his arm out so that he was still touching her. "Jack's fine… well, not really. But he's here and he's not dead. Though I'm not sure that's a good thing."

"What?" she said in confusion, still slightly dazed. But by the time it took for her to realise that he was talking about the Captain, they were interrupted as a voice spoke over the PA.

'_Citizens rejoice. Your lord and master stands on high, playing track three._'


	7. Got the Message?

_**Alright. Now, this one's a little more violent than the rest. This one is all about trying to torture the Doctor via Rose. I'm not generally a horrid person, so writing this was hard. But things have got to get bad before they can get better.**_

_**Enjoy anyway!**_

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><p>.<p>

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**Got the Message?**

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Rose was startled when suddenly the elevator doors opened to reveal the Master spinning about as a song played over the speakers. She vaguely recognised it as a song from the Scissor Sisters, but was too preoccupied by the man who was twirling about and kissing a woman in a long red dress. He ran up the stairs and started to ring on a bell. With a sigh, the Doctor crawled out of his tent, looking resigned. In the next second the Master was down beside them, forcing the old Doctor into a wheelchair and hooning him around.

Slowly the music faded out and the Master settled himself and the Doctor over by a window. She watched as he talked to the Doctor, taunting him. But the Doctor didn't react, he didn't even move.

Not until the Master said something that obviously hit a nerve. Suddenly he spun around and growled something quietly. After the Master replied, he said something else. It was little above a whisper.

"Oh, no you don't!" the master cried. He stood and pushed the Doctor's chair away until he hit the wall. Rose tried to get up and reach him, but she could only just stand with her hand chained to the rail, even with the long chain. As the Master ranted on, oblivious to what the people around him were doing, she saw the Doctor press three fingers to his leg and Francine Jones nod discreetly.

"What? No!" the tantrum like cry distracted them. "Why is she still tied up? It won't be any fun if she's _tied up!_"

Quickly someone came over and unlocked her cuff. She began to rub her wrist, getting the blood flowing again. She knew it would bruise. But suddenly the Master pulled her up roughly and spun her so fast she almost fell over again.

"Right. Miss Tyler. Let's have a look at you. Now I'm afraid we didn't get a very good introduction yesterday. I'm-"

"The Master," she finished for him, somewhat bitterly. "You're an old friend of the Doctor's but became enemies somewhere along the way and somehow escaped the Time War, living as a human. And you're a… well, quite frankly, you're a crazy, screwed up, psychopath of a Time Lord. I already know who you are."

"It appears you do," he grinned at her. The grin was not a nice one. "But… I don't know anything about you. Oh, I know the whole sob story and background. Grew up on a Council Estate in London. Raised by your broke mother after your father died when you were a baby. Worked at Henrik's clothing shop for three years before it was blown up. A few days later you _mysteriously_ disappear for a year and return with a man, refusing to say where you've been other than that you were… travelling. After that it was a bit of a whirlwind ride as the Doctor took you on wonderful adventures for… what was it, two years? But then tragedy struck when you were found 'missing presumed dead' after the Battle of Canary Warf. But you weren't really dead, were you? No, you were sucked into a parallel universe and trapped there. Separated from the man… alien - who you loved."

"Are you going to tell me my whole life story?" she asked, her tone very close to being snappish.

"Ooh, Doctor, I like this one!" he said to the man in the wheelchair. The Doctor had rolled closer and she could see he was struggling to school his features into that mask he had on before.

"Leaver her alone," he commanded. But the Master paid no heed.

"Hmm, you've changed since he last saw you," he commented, looking her up and down. "You've gotten a little older. It suits you, you're quite pretty… for an ape. Your hair is more natural now. Although, I'm not sure whether you're skinner or fatter. You look skinnier, but what is with that belly." He poked her hard in the stomach, making her wince since her abdomen was still a little tender. "And your breasts are bigger… did you know that your bra is too small?"

Rose looked down and self-consciously crossed her arms over she chest. But looking down, she had realized they were bigger. She used to be a 32DD, now she looked like she was up to an F! And her bra was probably a size too small. God, breastfeeding had taken her up two cup sizes!

"Hmm, and your eyes. They used to be so full of life, so happy. What happened to that light? Now you look empty. But, looks aren't all that important. What I want to know… is what you did while you were away. What fun did you have when you were with the Doctor."

"What? You're holding me captive, you've been torturing the Doctor for a year and you want us to be buddies?" she said incredulously.

"Are you going to tell me?" he replied calmly.

"No," she scoffed.

"Right then, time for some fun."

Suddenly he reached up and grabbed her head in his hands. The grip was painful as he pressed his fingers into her temples and tried to hold her still. Quickly he tried to force his mind into hers. She felt him press against her mind. It was horrible and felt like something was battering at her head. It hurt.

She cried out as he tried to get in, but her mind revolted against the feeling, working harder to push him out. He tried harder, but she only rebelled more. She was so focused on trying to get him out, trying to stop the pain that she hadn't noticed that she was now on her knees. Nor did she notice the Doctor screaming her name, trying to get the Master to stop, both vocally and physically.

Finally, he stopped. She was panting heavily and his breathing was pretty strained too. "She's strong this one. I've never seen a human with such strong mental barriers."

"Who says I'm human?" the words hiss from her lips without her consent. It shocked all three of them. Rose blinked at the words. She didn't even know where they had come from. Of course she was human. She was just a little bit different.

"Aren't you now? The Master said snidely. "Then what are you?"

"I - I don't know," she stuttered.

"Well then, we'll just have to find out, wont we?" Before she could even form the thought to move, the Master had stepped forward and yanked out a small handful of hairs. She cried out and held her hand to the sore spot as he pocketed the dark blonde threads. Behind them the Doctor growled angrily.

"Leave her _alone_," he ground out, slowly lifting himself from the chair.

The Master all but ignored him, except to reach out one hand and push him out of the way. "And you've gained telepathic abilities," he continued. "But I'm willing to bet that you've never been taught how to use them. Your mind is working on instinct. The big bad man wants to get in your mind and pick it apart. It will do all it can to shove the invader out. But, to a mind, that's something that you _must_ keep out. But, no matter how much you may hate it, you're mind doesn't see messages as a threat. Nothing to harm you. And that's why I can do this."

He reached for her head again and suddenly a torrent of images flooded through her head.

She saw a planet with burnt red grass and a smoke filled orange sky fall to ruin. Thousands upon thousands of people killed at the hands of the Daleks, and some things she had never seen before. Children at least 8 years old, forced to fight. The children younger than that were simply slaughtered as their parents couldn't protect them.

She saw many different cruel ending of lives at this mans hands.

She saw the Toclafane sweep down and murder billions. They killed men, women and children. Whole families dying. Every country, every city. They killed with their spikes and their lasers, childish manic laughter flowing from them the entire time.

Then the images became more personal. She saw Mickey lying on the ground, dead and bloody. Her mum screaming as she was tortured. Pete's body being crushed and mangled as the car reversed and drove back over him repeatedly. The Doctor, locked in a room of scientists, his hands strapped to the table. He screamed as they cut open his chest while he was still awake…

By the time the images stopped, she was a sobbing mess on the ground. She had hardly been aware that she had been whimpering for him to stop. She took deep gasping breaths. '_It's not real. It's not real. It's not real_," she chanted in her head. But she felt sick to her stomach, knowing that it was only the last four visions that hadn't been real.

The Master bent down low so his face was right next to her, his hand on her back. "That's just a taste of what I can do, Miss Tyler," he whispered in her ear. "Oh, I have such plans for you. Now that we've discovered this little mind trick, I am going to break you down piece by peace until you barely have any of your mind left. I will show you things that would stop your heart in fear and sorrow and make you feel pain so excruciating, you will wish you were dead. I can torture you physically and mentally and do anything I want to you. I wonder how he would react if I took you hard on the floor. Would you fight? You seem like a fighter. But you won't be by the time I'm done with you. I must thank you, Rose. You've given me the best thing in the entire universe. You've given me the one thing that can break the Doctor completely."

Rose's eyes widened and she gasped in fear. But only a little of that fear was for herself. If he could break the Doctor using her, what could he manage with their children? If he _did_ mange to get into her head, there would be no way of stopping him from finding out.

She had to be strong. She had to protect them. It was only a matter of time before everyone found out. Having a child changes your body. She couldn't hide those changes forever… she doubted she could even hide them much longer anyway.

Suddenly she cried out in pain as he aimed a small, but still very painful, kick to her head.

"Mrs Jones," The Master called. Bitterly, Francine came forward. "Take out guest to the bathroom and help her clean up. Find her something of Lucy's to wear. They're about the same size… Of course, Rose is more well endowed in the chest area and that part may be a little small, but who's complaining."

Rose opened her mouth to retort that she did, but Francine purposely cut her off. "Yes, Sir," she growled. Then she helped Rose to her feet. She tried to walk forward in the way that Francine was leading her, but she stumbled and fell instantly. She felt so weak. She had used so much energy protecting herself from his mind that she was exhausted.

Francine went back to her, put an arm under her to support her, and led her away.

**?...DW…?**

Francine wasn't stupid. She had been a mother before… three times. She knew the signs easily. It wasn't really the girl's appearance, that wasn't much of a give away. It was in the other details.

It was the way she held her arms, the scared look in her eyes. The look of a mother, scared for her children. But the biggest evidence had to do with her clothes. Rose was still breastfeeding, and it was apparent that she hadn't done so in a while. Any longer and others may have started to notice that. And she was still bleeding, so it couldn't have been long since the children had been born.

Silently, without hinting anything, she arranged for things that would help cover those small, but obvious giveaways. She understood why Rose was terrified of the Master finding out she had given birth. She knew better than anyone, the fear of having your children suffer at the hands of that vial man. And she would do anything to help her prevent that.

.

Rose looked down at the flashy dress. She wasn't comfortable in it. But Francine had kindly and very silently handed her things to help postpone the inevitable finding out of her pregnancy and childbirth. If she was lucky, they wouldn't find out for a few more days.

She fingered her pocket subconsciously. Francine had been lucky enough to find her a dress with at least one pocket. The letter was now hidden safely in this pocket. She wasn't going to let it go. It was for the Doctor. But she couldn't give it to him yet.

Suddenly everyone looked about in alarm as the PA announced a 'condition red'.

"What the hell?" the Master cried running up to the bridge. Quickly Francine dived on his jacket, tossing it to Tish, who passed it to the Doctor. The Doctor dug into the pockets and took out the laser-screwdriver, aiming it at the Master just as he turned around at the sound of the small scuffle behind him. It all happened before Rose could fully take in what was happening. "Oh, I see," he sighed, putting his hands up.

"I told you," the Doctor rasped. "I have one thing to say." He clicked the screwdriver, but nothing happened. He looked at in confusion and the Master laughed. The Doctor tried again, to no avail.

"Isomorphic controls," he grinned smugly, leaning over and taking it from him. Suddenly he backhanded the Doctor, sending him to the floor. Rose gasped and moved over to the Doctor's side. "Which means they only work for me," he explained to all the people who didn't have an IQ higher than a super computer. "Like this." He shot at Francine. He missed her mostly, but nicked her arm, which she instantly cradled to her. "Say sorry!" he demanded.

"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" she all but shrieked at him, fury dripping from the word.

"Mum!" Tish cried, running over to her.

"Didn't you learn anything from the blessed saint Martha?" Lucy helped him into his jacket. "Siding with the Doctor is a dangerous thing to do. Just look at Rose's family." He waved his hand out at the woman at the Doctor's side. She glowered in response. "They're not even here anymore. And Rose herself has lost her mind. Take them away. Not her, just keep her back."

A guard took Tish and Francine away while another dragged Rose away from the Doctor and held her back by the wall. The Master came over and helped the Doctor into a chair. "Okay. Gotcha," he said. "There you go, Gramps. Oh, do you know, I remember the days when the Doctor, oh, that famous Doctor, was waging a Time War. Battling Sea Devils and Axons. He sealed the rift at the Medusa Cascade single-handed. Ooh, and look at him now. Stealing screwdrivers. How did he ever come to this? Oh yeah, me!" he laughed excitedly.

The Doctor acted unfazed by the words. "I just need you to listen."

"No, it's my turn!" the Master growled. "Revenge! Best served hot. And this time… it's a message for Miss Jones!"

.

It was minutes later that they had a camera set up ready. But it took another half hour after the announcement of the broadcast that they actually went on air. The Doctor was sat in the wheelchair behind the Master on screen. Rose would be off screen, but she was only just to the side, this time held by two guards.

Two guards, she wasn't sure whether that was stupidity or a complement. On the one hand, she was a fairly petite woman who was weak (not that they knew what from) and still slightly affected by her confusion. On the other, she really was quite a formidable opposition when she really fights. Many, many people and aliens had underestimated her before. It may have been a while since she had done fieldwork, but she still had it.

Rose watched as the crew behind the camera counted down, and then signalled that they were broadcasting.

"My people," the Master said in his smarmy voice. "Salutations on this, the eve of war. Lovely woman. But I know there's all sorts of whispers down there. Stories a child, walking the Earth, giving you hope." He walked back to reveal the Doctor behind him to the camera. He went and stood with the Doctor. "But I ask you… how much hope had this man got? Say hello, Gandalf. Except he's not _that_ old, but he's an alien with a much greater lifespan than you _stunted little apes_. What if it showed?" he suddenly said. He took out the Laser screwdriver and began to fiddle with the settings. "What if I suspended your capacity to regenerate? All 900 years of your life, Doctor. What if we could see them?"

"What? No!" she cried in alarm. She struggled to move forward to protect him, but the guards held her back. "Stop! Please! Don't hurt him!"

The next second, the Master had pressed the screwdriver and something strange happened to the Doctor. It was almost as if he had been put on hyper speed as he thrashed and shook about, rapidly aging and getting smaller.

"Down you go, Doctor!" the Master said gleefully.

"Stop it!" Rose shrieked as she strained against her captors. She was torn as to whether she would run to the Doctor or at the Master if she were able to escape. But in the back of her mind she could feel a searing pain. She knew that it was coming from the Doctor, in the same way she could constantly feel how sick the TARDIS was. She wanted it to stop.

"Down, down, down you go," the Master continued to taunt. He stopped then and cautiously headed towards the bundle of clothes that lay where the Doctor used to be. As he got closer the bundle began to move and a head popped out of the top of the Doctor's shirt collar.

He had shrunk down so small; his head was almost as large as his body. His big brown eyes were the same as ever, only now they were so large they took up most of his face. He looked something between Gollum and a small eared house elf.

Grinning, the Master walked right up to the camera. "Received and understood, Miss Jones?" he almost laughed. And with that, the transmission ended. He turned to face the room. "Everyone, leave us. She stays here."

Finally the guards let her go and she fell to the ground when her straining was no longer necessary and she over balanced. She didn't even look as everyone filed out. She only had one thing on her mind.

"Doctor!" she cried, running over to the small bundle. Reaching through it, she pulled him out and wrapped his old shirt around him, and cradled him to her.

"It's okay, Rose," he attempted to sooth her, but his voice was barely a harsh whisper. "I'm alright."

"Well, you wont be for long," the Master said cheerfully. Behind him, a large golden bird cage was bought in and hung up. "I've been saving doing that for a special occasion," he grinned. "Had everything ready for a while now." He reached into the cage and grabbed out a ball of brown fabric, showing it to them. "I even hazarded a guess as to how big you'd be!"

The master grabbed the Doctor from Rose's arms and shoved him and the mini suit in the cage and melted the lock shut. Rose stood in anger, but held herself back. She knew it would do no good to fight him.

"Do you like it?" he asked the Doctor, nodding to the cage. "I thought you would like a good seat for your punishment."

"Punishment?" Rose cried in alarmed anger. "You've already shrunken him down to the size of a bloody house elf!"

"Oh, Miss Tyler. That was not his punishment. That was a message for Martha Jones. And now it's time for his."

Her anger faded and fear took over at the look in his eyes. Slowly he advanced towards her.

"Master," the Doctor said, his voce begging him not to do it.

Soon the Master was pressed up against her, her back pinned to the wall. He ran his hand up from her hip to the back of her neck. His touch was so gentle… Until he suddenly yanked at her hair.

He taunted both her and the Doctor with his words as he hit, punched and kicked her. She could dimly hear the Doctor shouting for him to stop, begging, and promising him anything. But she was trying to concentrate on not crying out.

If this was the Doctor's punishment, then she would not make this easy on the Master. She had stopped trying to fight back when that only made him hit harder. But she managed to stay as silent as she could.

Until he kneed her in the stomach.

The cry that tore itself from her lips was enough to make anyone flinch. Her abdomen, still sore and tender from giving birth to twins burned in agony. Delighting in her reaction, the Master did it again. He redoubled his efforts, attacking her viciously now that she had finally slipped.

She knew that he was going easy on her. Hurting her enough to bruise and cut and make her cry out and curl up on the ground, but not enough that she would need medical attention.

Finally, when he was done, he grabbed her by the hair and dragged her over to the cage. The Doctor's large eyes were filled with pain, anger and sorrow.

The Master grabbed the cage with his over hand and leant in close. "Got the message, Doctor? He growled.


	8. Discovered

**Discovered**

.

.

Rose sat, tied up to the rail again, just staring at her legs. There was nothing else to do. The Doctor could hardly look at her, and all he would do when she tried to talk to him was apologise.

Then again… it was almost interesting. Curious at the least. She couldn't really tell since it was so slow, but she'd been watching a long time. She could have sworn those bruises had already begun to fade.

She tried to focus on the bruises instead of anything else. Instead of the pain, or the Doctor's avoidance, or the horrible lack of connection from her children. It was so worrying. Nothing. Not a peep from them since last night. She knew that they would be worried and scared. Should even be getting worse, but she couldn't even feel them when her gut told her that they should be screaming out for her by now.

"It's already fading," she said aloud, half to the Doctor, half to herself.

"Rose…" he sighed.

"No, really. I swear it was darker a few minutes ago."

"Rose, I'm-"

"If you tell me you're sorry one more time, I will kick your house elf butt, old man!" she teased threateningly.

"This should never have happened," he said mournfully.

"Yeah, well, it did. I'm okay, now. I'm over it. But to say the truth, I'm more worried about you."

"I'm not the one who was nearly beat to death!" he said bitterly.

"And I'm not the one who's been here for a year. He's using me against you, you can't let him do that. No matter what he does to me… just… don't let him get to you."

"Easier said than done."

"…How are you going to stop him?" she asked.

"Martha's helping. We've got a plan. She's got a job to do down there; she's not travelling the world for nothing."

"She sounds brilliant."

"She is." A moment passed in silence and he looked down to see that Rose was staring at the ground, dejectedly. He realised how what he had said would have sounded to her. "Martha's smart," he said. "She's a medical student. I met her at a hospital that had been transported to the moon." That got a little smile out of her. "But I tell you what, it took her a lot longer to believe in aliens than you did. And we were _on the moon_, surrounded by Judoon, she'd heard that I had two hearts through her stethoscope, and she _still_ didn't believe I was an alien until a scan _said_ I was non-human!"

Now Rose really laughed. "I seem to recall that I ran out of a room of aliens on out first off world adventure."

"Yes, but you were overwhelmed. All I had to tell you was that me and the TARDIS were alien and you just said 'okay' and moved onto the next question. I actually had to prove to Martha it was a time machine by playing a cheep trick."

"Maybe she just needed the facts. When things got weird, I just tended to go with it. It was easier."

"Yep, and then you asked questions till your heart was content… or, well, actually, you knew when to stop. You paid attention. Never pushed on things you knew were bad subjects."

"Well why would I? It was obvious when someone didn't want to talk about something. I knew the difference between secrets and upsetting thoughts. I didn't want to hurt them."

"No, you were always like that," he smiled. But he noticed that she still wasn't smiling. "What's wrong?"

"I'm just worried about my family," she said quietly. It wasn't a lie. He watched as she once again sipped her hand into her pocket. She'd been doing it since she'd gotten here. He couldn't help but wonder what she was keeping hidden.

"You should get some sleep," he told her. "I don't think tomorrow's going to be pretty."

Rose nodded, knowing she probably wasn't going to get anything more out of him tonight. With her hand still in her pocket, she snuggled down and attempted to sink into the escape of darkness.

She wasn't even aware, that as she slept, her hand slipped from the dress. The letter still clutched tightly in her fingers.

**?...DW…?**

The doors slid open and both Rose and the Doctor stirred. Neither of them were fully awake as the Master jumped across the room on tiptoes. He was wearing nothing but a black - rather small - silk bath robe, his hair was mussed from sleep… or an activity no one really wanted to think about him doing.

He leant down so his face was right beside the Doctor's as the tiny man woke up and looked at him. "Guess what?" he grinned. The Doctor said nothing. "We've located Miss Jones. I'm on my way to fetch her in a moment actually." Still the Doctor said nothing. "Come on, not even a reaction to that? I know the whole plan. That silly little gun and everything. She doesn't have the last part yet… and she never will. I'm going to kill her. And you never know, if I'm in the mood, I may just kill Miss T- Well, what have you got there?"

He looked down to see Rose, still trying to shrug off sleep, a piece of paper curled in her hand. At his question she seemed to wake up fully and shove the paper in her pocket. But he jumped towards her and prised it from her hands, nearly ripping it.

"No!" she cried as she struggled. But he won in the end. He looked down at the crumpled paper in his hands. It was a letter. Still unopened. The messy scrawl on the back read 'Doctor'. "Stop! Give it back, it's not yours!" Rose cried. She was panicking. She didn't know what was in there. But she could guess.

"Ooh, it's for the Doctor!" he crooned. "What is it, a love letter?" He tore open the envelope and pulled out the single sheet of paper, folding it out to read it.

"No! Please don't!" Rose cried desperately, pulling against her restraints. She was so desperate to stop him from reading it, that it didn't even occur to her that her reaction was making him want to read it more.

"_Hey Doctor,_" he began reading aloud, his cheerful voice drowning out Rose's. "_If you're reading this then something has happened in the parallel world and we couldn't come with Rose. We hope that you found her quickly. Of course, by now you would have noticed two things.  
>One, Rose doesn't seem to remember much. I'll explain that later. But her memories are seriously jumbled. Nothing will be in the right place and she'll have forgotten a lot. She'll recognise you, but there is a very good chance she won't know who the hell you are.<br>And two, depending on when we sent her through, you would have noticed that Rose is either pregnant, or has kids._"

Rose stopped her shouting as he read this and both men looked at her in shock. The Doctor had a little bit of pain in his eyes, the Master's, however, were full of a vicious mirth.

"Pregnant!" the master laughed. "Oh, this is just too good. And I guess it makes sense. The belly and the breasts and everything. But… you don't actually _look_ pregnant at the moment. Have you already had your kids, Rose?" Rose just glared at him in stony silence. She would not tell him anything.

The Master turned back to the letter. "_She's eight months along as I'm writing this, so I don't know whether she'll come through before or after the twins come.  
>If she is still pregnant, you're really going to have to help her. She doesn't know that she is. She kept forgetting that she was pregnant and freaked out about it quite a bit. In the end we put a perception filter on her stomach so she won't see it. It's quite funny: at the moment she doesn't understand why we're treating her… well, like a pregnant woman."<em>

He laughed at that. It really was just too priceless. He carried on with the letter, using a melodramatic voice.

"_So, erm, time for that explanation. I'm afraid this is the hard bit. See, Rose wanted to get back home, so she took on the Dimension Cannon project (it's how we will get - 'got' from your point of view -her back). Only… something was wrong. She wasn't feeling your loss, just in her heart, but also in her head… if that makes sense. (For you, it probably does). She kept saying how empty and alone she felt, and it wasn't just an emotional thing. At one point we did some brain scans (she got into a bit of an accident, nothing too serious) and we saw that you could actually see it on the scan. An entire extra part of her brain had been opened up for use, and it was almost bruising from the lack of contact. After hearing what she's said about you, there may be a chance she is somehow telepathic. (Mind explaining that one to us?)  
>Yeah, so… Rose kinda went mad. She was so driven by the emptiness, so desperate to get back to you that she dedicated her life to that Dimension Cannon. She spent every single second she could afford in there. She was sure she had fixed it, but the breach wasn't open. But that just wouldn't register to her. She kept pulling it a part and rebuilding it. She was so obsessed with it that she refused to sleep or eat. All she could do was try and fix that blasted device.<br>Everyone was worried about her. She was wasting away and she didn't even notice. In the end we did the only thing we could think of. And we are sorry. We are so, so sorry. Please tell her that. We gave her one of our trial drugs. It's called 'Confusion' and pretty much, it scrambles the brain and keeps the user clueless as long as they use it. We only wanted her to stop. But things just kind of got worse from there. We panicked, and the only thing we could think to do was keep her on it._"

Suddenly he was it a fit of laughter as he saw Rose's expression. She was staring almost blankly ahead. Her eyes were filled with tears and her mouth was slightly open. It's like what he was reading didn't quite comprehend to her, but she knew it was true.

"Oh! Oh, this is just _too_ brilliant!" he cried. "Months of not having a clue, of being _confused_ and a complete stupid airhead who didn't even know you were pregnant and it was all because of the people who supposedly _loved_ you! I can't wait to see what other juicy secrets this thing holds."

At that, Rose blanched. The Master continued.

"_And just so you know, you better not think that Rose was suicidal or anything like that. It's not who she is. She is strong willed, and that made her desperate to get back. I'm sure that if she noticed what she was doing to herself she would have stopped. But she couldn't.  
>Don't worry too much, it doesn't have any side effects and she won't have any of the drugs when she comes through. If you're there, it'll be safe to let her remember. And we know that you'll look after her. We feel horrible, but we told her that the drugs she was taking were to help her remember, when really they were making her forget.<em>

_So anyway, on with the explanation… We don't think Rose knew she was pregnant. - _Ooh, now we're getting to the good stuff, aren't we, Rosie! -_ She wouldn't have noticed for a while. She was too upset about you to begin with, and then she was too obsessed with the Cannon. And she never told anyone or wrote it down or took a test as far as we know. We didn't notice until we took her to the hospital after she nearly killed herself from malnourishment. She was already four months along.  
>It was quite a shock for all of us… especially when the scans picked up four hearts. At first we were astounded that Rose was having quadruplets… but then we took a closer look at the scans. It only showed two bodies, so that could only mean that the babies had two hearts. And well, there's only one two hearted alien that Rose has come into contact with, let alone loved.<br>So yeah, since your 'brilliant Time Lord mind' has probably gone into shock right now, the twins are yours… Or at least there's a 99% chance they are.  
>(Man, and here we all were thinking it was all unresolved sexual tension between the two of you).<em>"

He looked up at the Doctor who's already large eyes were now as wide as they could go. His tiny mouth was hanging open in shock. Little things were coming together in his mind. Rose had been pregnant. Rose had been gone just under nine months. A week before they were separated, they ran into a sonic pulse that had wiped away all fears and inhibitions causing them to act on their greatest desires, and leaving them with no memory of it. There had been a decent amount of time that the both of them had been under its influence. Rose had kissed him the first time it had happened to her. At the time, deep down, he wanted nothing more than her…

"Oh! Oh, this is too much!" the Mater cried joyfully. "You have kids! You have pathetic little half-breed kids! What else does it say…

_So yeah, when Rose gets her memories back, please tell her how sorry we are. Look after her. And look after the twins. It's a boy and a girl by the way… and I want that little boy to be called Mickey, got that!  
>Hopefully we're still okay. The breach has been open for a month or two now, so if it's still open, we'll come through.<em>

_Mickey._

_(Jackie, Pete and Jake send their regards too)._

Well, well, well. I don't think this night could get any better," the Master sneered. "Not only have I found Martha Jones, but I've also found the Doctor's children."

"You don't know where they are!" Rose hissed.

"On the contrary, Miss Tyler. See, Martha Jones is being taken to a safe house. A slave quarters in Bexley." He grinned when he saw her eyes widen in fear at the reaction. "The same slave quarters that I found you in. So, if I'm not mistaken, where your children still are."

"Don't you dare touch them!" she spat at him, her face darkening into a scowl.

"Or you'll do what?" he laughed at her state, chained to the wall. "I'm just bringing them back. Did you know that separation from the mother is dangerous for Time Tots? They need that contact. It's painful without it. You don't want your children to be in pain, do you Rose?"

"Please! Just don't hurt them!" she begged, a tear running down her cheek. Laughing, he turned and left the room. "No!" she shouted from behind him, straining against her bonds. "Please! Leave them alone! Don't touch them! If you hurt them I swear I will-"

"Rose!" the Doctor called to her, trying to calm her down. The Master was gone, and yelling at him was useless. He watched sadly as she broke down in tears.

"I-I didn't want him to know about them," she sniffed. "It's why I didn't tell you. I wanted to, but I was afraid he'd hurt them. And now…" she let out another sob and he clung desperately to the bars, wishing he could be beside her.

"Rose, it will be alright," he told her, pushing his shock to the side for a moment. She needed him right now, and that was more important. "But the Master is right. If they are separated from you for too long then they could even die. They've already gone two days…" He regretted saying that when he saw that she was shaking. "How old are they?" he asked softly.

"Six days. They're six days old," she told him. "I gave birth the night that I came through."

He smiled a little. "And their names?"

"The - the little boy is Jack Mickey Tyler. And the girl is Gallifreya Aria Tyler," she told him.

"Her name is beautiful," he told her, tears in his eyes. "But really, don't you think Jack's got a big enough ego without having a child named after him?" He smiled when this managed to coax a sob strangled laugh from her.

"I didn't remember who he was at the time. But his eyes were so blue that they must have reminded me of him… Are you alright?"

"Me?" he cried incredulously. "I'm a little surprised. I mean, I'm suddenly a dad again. I don't remember it happening, but it did. I'm more worried about you… what you've been through… are _you _okay?"

"I'm scared," she whispered. "I'm scared he's going to hurt them. I'm scared because I can't feel them in my head…"

"You could feel them?"

She nodded. "Yeah. When they were born there was just this… connection. I don't know, but I felt what they wanted. I felt their love, and their comfort… Even when I got here I could feel it. They were scared, they wanted me back. Then I woke up that night and they were just… gone!"

"That - that might have been my fault," he said sheepishly. "I felt two children reaching out. I knew that if they kept going, the Master would notice them. So, I cloaked them. Hid them from anyone remotely telepathic."

"They're safe?" she asked hopefully. "They're okay?"

"I assume so," he replied. "I've been blocked off from them too. But they should be okay." Neither of them cared to mention that would not be the case in a few moments. Neither of them could, nor wanted to.

"C-can you unblock them?" she asked him. "If he's going to find them anyway, I want to feel them. I need to. I need to know they're okay."

After thinking about it a moment, the Doctor relented. Going into the Archangel Network, he removed the cloak he'd placed around the two young minds he'd protected. The second he did so, he felt an intense relief flood through them. At the same time he saw the same relief come over Rose's face. He knew that they had connected with her again.

Then, the two minds brushed against his. Gently he opened up to them. He felt their joy as they discovered who he was, as he felt the love they already held for him.

And for the first time since this year began, his tears were of happiness.

.

.

.

* * *

><p><em><strong>And the reason for her confusion is revealed! Some very clever people guessed it by the hint where Mickey told her that she wouldn't need her pills. I can kind of just see Rose having this total mental moment where she is so desperate to get back that she does nothing but tear the DC apart and put if back together again. It would only be worse if she were being driven by the need to feel another telepath.<strong>_

_**And the Doctor and the Master find out about the twins. Hang on for the next chapter to find out what happens to them!**_


	9. Crashing Down

**Crashing Down**

.

.

Martha sat in the jeep, staring out the window. She was so glad this was almost over. By tomorrow everything would be back to normal… This had been a _very_ long year.

But the one thing she couldn't get out of her head was the image of what had happened to the Doctor. She just kept seeing him thrash about in pain as he shrunk smaller and smaller and smaller. Almost worse, had been the desperate cries that could be heard telling the Master to stop. She didn't recognise the voice, but she knew that whoever it was cared for the Doctor. The pain in her voice…

In a way it made her happy. She had no idea if anyone on the Valiant was okay. Now she knew that at least the Doctor was alive. As long as he was alive, everything would be alright. But who was that woman? Another captive? …But the look on Tom's face when she had first called out…

"You don't seem surprised by any of this," she commented lightly, doing her best to hide the suspicion in her voice. There weren't many people she trusted anymore.

"Not the first time I've heard of all this," he told her, eyes fixed on the road. "Well, the gun part is new. But I've heard of the Doctor before."

"Right, you're able to travel. You've probably heard some of the stories I've been telling about him."

"Actually, no," Tom said. "There is a woman… there _were_ two - in one of the houses I stay at. They have both travelled with the Doctor. One, Sarah Jane Smith, she talked about him a lot. She kept saying that he would help us. She'd tell us all about him. Then, a new girl appeared about a week ago. Only young… about as old as you. She gave birth not long after she arrived, and the children had two hearts. Sarah said they were half Time Lord and that the Doctor was the father."

"That's impossible," Martha snapped. "The Doctor's been locked up for a year. There's no way that he could have any children." She wouldn't believe it… she refused to. "It must have been the Master.

"Yeah, but, Rose said that she used to travel with the Doctor. She could remember that much."

"Rose!" she cried in surprise.

"The poor girl. She's been through a hell of a week."

"How so?" Martha asked, curious about this woman now. It couldn't be. It just couldn't be.

"Well, a week ago she just appeared out of nowhere. Literally out of nowhere. I saw it when I was smuggling some food into the slave quarters. There was a flash of light and suddenly a very pregnant woman was standing in the middle of the alleyway. Looked shocked as hell when she saw what had happened here. But she had really bad memory problems, could hardly put her life in the right order. And that thing… that invisible thing you got on your key. She had one of those stuck on her stomach. She didn't even know she was pregnant until she went into labour a few hours after getting here. So I deliver the babies - twins - I'm checking to see if they're okay and next thing you know, I'm hearing two heartbeats down the stethoscope!"

"Shit," Martha breathed.

"And it only gets worse. She was trying to remember, she really was. But all she could recall was that she had been somewhere else. She said that something called the… Daleks had invaded and her friend sent her here." He didn't see Martha's look of shock at that. "He had told her to call the Doctor, and when she finally remembered, a swarm of Toclafane and a few of the Master's guard came and took her away. That voice, the woman screaming at the Master before… that was her."

"So, the Master has her. What about the babies?" Okay, that sounded weird. She still didn't believe this. It was some messed up dream.

"They're safe. Sarah Jane is looking after them. She was holding them when they took Rose. They never figured they were hers. But something's wrong with them. It's like they need her to be there with them. They know she's gone and it's causing them pain. They're a little frantic. And I wouldn't be surprised if the Master finds out about them soon.

"Let's hope not," Martha said. "I don't think the Doctor could handle that… Mind, I don't even think he knows about them."

* * *

><p><strong>?...DW…?<strong>

* * *

><p>Together, Martha and Tom snuck through the dark street. They made their way to a door. Tom looked around, making sure they were still unseen, then knocked quietly on the door.<p>

"Let me in," he said quietly. "It's Milligan." The door opened and he rushed Martha inside.

"Did you bring food?" a woman asked him.

"Couldn't get any," he replied. "And I'm starving."

"All we've got is water," she told them.

As they made their way down the hall, Tom began explaining. "It's cheaper than building barracks. Pack them in, a hundred in each house, ferry them off to the shipyards every morning."

"Are you Martha Jones?" a boy asked.

"Yeah, that's me," she replied.

"Can you do it?" he said. "Can you kill him? They said you can kill the Master. Can you? Tell us you can do it. Please, tell us you can do it."

"Who _is_ this Master? Even Sarah Jane didn't really know and she said she's met him." Suddenly everyone started talking over one another. She noticed that the only people not saying anything was a middle-aged woman and a young teenage boy. They each held a bundle in their arms.

"Come on, just leave her alone. She's exhausted," Tom said forcefully, trying to get them to stop.

"No, it's alright," she said. "They want me to talk, and I will." Everyone parted for her and she was directed to a spot that she could sit on the stairs. Soon everyone was gathered around her and she began. "I know that only a few years ago, that if I had told you that aliens exist you wouldn't have believed me. But now, there is no doubt. Now I'm asking you to believe in something else impossible. Time travel. And no, before you ask, I'm not going to go back in time and kill him before all this started. I can't. That would make a paradox, and that's exactly what the Master wants.

The Master is a Time Lord. His people are extremely clever, they are the ones who first discovered time travel, but they also understood the working of it. All the other Time Lords are dead… all except one. And he is brilliant. Two years ago, he took me to travel in his spaceship. And it was dangerous and wonderful and brilliant. But the Master found us and stole it and came here.

This man. He has done so much for you. The aliens that crashed through Big Ben, he figured that one out and stopped the missile launch. The Sycorax invasion, he stopped that. It was _him_, not 'Harold Saxon', who saved you from the Christmas Star. When that hospital was transported to the moon. That was where I met him, and oh, you should have seen him. And he has done it so many more times since. He's still trying to do that now.

I travelled across the world. From the ruins of New York, to the fusion mills of China, right across the radiation pits of Europe. And everywhere I went, I saw people just like you, living as slaves. But if Martha Jones became a legend, then that's wrong. Because my name isn't important. There is someone else. The man who sent me out there. The man who told me to walk the Earth. His name is the Doctor. He has saved your lives so many times and you never knew he was there! He never stops. He never stays. He never asks to be thanked. But I've seen him. I know him… I love him… And I know what he can do."

"She's right," the middle aged woman said, stepping forward. "I have travelled with the Doctor too. I've told you all the stories. He's even more extraordinary than you realise. You can hardly put him into words. And Rose… you remember Rose. She used to travel with him too, until they were separated. She spent months trying to get back to him. The Master took her to try and hurt him. Because he knows that the Doctor is the only one who can stop him. He's done it before. I have every faith that he will do it again."

"He will," Martha said confidently, glad of the backup. "But he can't do it alone. At the moment the Master had him trapped. But there is a way to set him free and we need your help. You don't even have to move from where you're standing or do anything dangerous. All you have to do is say one word. You have to say 'Doctor'. Think about him. But it will only work if it's at the same time. Tomorrow, at the countdown. When the countdown reaches zero, think about the Doctor. Because he is our only hope. And he will succeed."

Around her everyone began to murmur to each other. Now that she had explained, there weren't really all that many questions left for her, but the middle aged woman and they boy beside her came and sat next to her.

"I'm guessing you're Sarah Jane," she smiled.

"I am. Nice to meet you. The next companion… Did the Doctor tell you about me, or did Tom?"

"Tom," Martha replied. "The Doctor only ever really talks about Rose… even then I don't think he wants or means to." For the first time she noticed that the bundle that each of them were holding was a small few week old baby. "Are they…"

"Rose and the Doctor's children? Yes."

"Wow… I knew he loved her, but I never thought…" She reached up and touched the head of the baby Sarah Jane was holding. A girl. Her short brown hair puffed up wildly on the top, reminding her of the Doctor. She knew that it would go away as it got longer, but right now it was just so like him…

It hurt. Seeing the proof before her. She knew that the Doctor had never really been hers. Never truly shown that much of an interest in her, not that way at least, but still, she had hoped…

And yet, she knew the pain had dulled. If she had been told a year ago, she might have even burst into tears, but now she had been a year without him. She still cared for him, but she was coming to accept he could never feel the same way. And before that she had been so angry at Rose. She had always believed that she had simply left him. That she had hurt him and didn't really care, and that he was just still hung up on her. Hearing that she was trapped somewhere else, where neither of them would be able to see the other again… it made her feel sorry for the girl. She couldn't imagine if that had happened to her.

And now that in a way, something similar had happened, she knew that the separation would have been hell.

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"It's him!" A voice startled her out of her reverie. The woman who had let them in pushed her way to the front. It's him! Oh my god, it's him! It's the Master! He's here!"

Martha stood, knowing it was her time to go. This was what was meant to happen.

"But he never comes to Earth!" the first boy said fearfully. "He never walks upon the ground!"

"Hide her!" someone shouted.

"Use this!" Tom tossed them his jacket. In the next second, she was being forced to the ground and hidden under the jacket. Through the gap in the banister, she saw Sarah Jane and her boy pull the blankets up around the children and curl them in closer.

"He walks among us, our lord and master."

"Martha!" The Master's sing-song voice echoed through the street. "Martha Jo-hones. I can see you! Out you come, little girl. Come and meet your master. Oh, and bring the babies with you. The Doctor's children… Anybody? Nobody? No? Nothing? …Positions! I'll give the order unless you surrender. Ask yourself - 'what would the Doctor do?'"

Knowing that these people were putting themselves in danger for no reason, Martha took off her TARDIS key and shrugged off the cover of the jacket. She knew that if they died, they would only be alive again tomorrow morning, but event hen, she didn't want more innocent lives lost.

She went over to the door and placed her hand over Tom's. He had his hand around a gun he was pointing at the Master through the mail slot. He slowly stood, giving her a look. With a last small reassuring smile to everyone in the room, she opened the door and walked out.

"Oh, yes!" the Master said, clapping. "Oh, very well done! Good girl! He trained you well." He looked back to the house as Martha came over. "And the children too. I know they're there. If someone doesn't bring the twins out now, I'll have to give the order, and they will die with the rest of these people. Imagine what that would do to Rose. She has a connection to them, it would drive her insane. And the Doctor, what would it do to him?"

She noticed, sickeningly, that the more he spoke, the more the idea seemed to appeal to him. But thankfully - or not - at that moment, Sarah Jane walked out, a twin in each arm. She came and stood beside Martha.

"That's better. Now, bag. Give me the bag." Martha pulled it off her shoulder and went to give it to him, but he held up his hand. "No, stay there." She tossed it on the ground before him and he destroyed it with his laser screwdriver. Then he raised it up to her. "And now, good companion, your work is done."

"No!" Tom cried from behind them. He burst out of the house and ran towards them, his gun aimed at the Master. With a flick of the wrist, the Master changed his aim and shot Tom dead instead. All Martha and Sarah Jane could do was glare as the loathed man chuckled at what he had done.

"But you… when you die," he said to Martha, "the Doctor should be witness, hmm?" He inhaled deeply, breathing in the crisp night air. "Almost dawn, Martha. And planet Earth marches to war." He laughed, and then turned to Sarah Jane. "Well, well, well. I don't believe it. This one's still alive! Here's a face I haven't seen in a good few hundred years. Sarah Jane, wasn't it? Yes, we met in the Death Zone, all those years ago. You've grown up a lot since then… Oh, and these must be the twins!"

He reached out and Sarah Jane took a step backwards. "Don't you dare touch them!" she said.

"They may be half apes, but they are still of my kind. Thank Rassilon the Gallifreyan gene drowns your pathetic ones out. They will be fully Time Lord… And since I'm the one with the laser screwdriver, I'll do what I want." Once again, he reached forward and grabbed one of the children. Unable to hold onto them both and fight him off, Sarah Jane was helpless as he plucked Jack from her arm. "What's his name?"

Sarah Jane hesitated. "Jack."

The Master snorted indignantly. "Typical," he said. "And her?"

"G-Gallifreya," she said, too quite for him to hear.

"Sorry, what was that?"

"Her name is Gallifreya."

"Gallifreya," he said. He was impressed. It did sound beautiful, and of course, he knew how beautiful the namesake had been. It was very inventive for someone with next to no memory. "Wow, named after her long dead planet… At least her name is a lot more fitting. His name shall have to change. I'll not have my children with such… _common _names."

"They aren't your children!" Martha said. She may not know Rose, but she knew the Doctor. She could never let his children - no matter how bewildered she was by their existence - belong to someone else… Especially someone like the Master.

"I think you'll find that they are now. Unfortunately, I'll have to keep their mother around a little while longer. Natural births were extremely rare on Gallifrey, but the one thing we did know was that it was very dangerous to keep the chid separated from its mother. Were you _trying_ to kill them, Miss Smith?"

Sarah Jane only glared at him and held tighter to Gallifreya. She was not going to let go of her. She had to make sure that nothing happened to them. So, knowing how dangerous it was, knowing that she was leaving her son behind… where it was actually safer... she climbed aboard the helicopter. As they took off, only one thing was going through her head.

'_Shit. I'm being taken to the Valiant._'

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><p><em><strong>Poor Martha. Bit of a shock for her. But really, I think that being separated from him in the Year that Never Happened really helped her get over him.<strong>_

_**And of course the Master wants to use the children to hurt the Doctor… but why do that just by using pain. What better than knowing your children think THAT horrid man was your father.**_

_**Nearly done!**_


	10. Countdown

_**Hey everyone! Sorry it's been so long!**_

_**.**_

_**Nine months and 12 days (if my math is correct (which it's often not)). Bloody hell! I'm SO sorry! I'm so So sorry! I never meant for that to happen. I got caught up with my other stories so much. And I seemed to have had a bit of writer's block with this one. I DID have the document open most of the time, if that helps. I sit there with about 20 stories (possibly an under-exaggeration) open and work on what ever one I feel like.**_

_**But, I promise this won't happen again. I've got the flow going, and I'm carrying on with the next chapter once I have this one up.**_

_**I know it seems a little rushed, but that's the feel you get from the entire scene from the show. Hope you like it.**_

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><p>.<p>

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**Countdown**

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Rose looked up at the Doctor in worry. The Master had just left last night. He knew where Martha was, and worse, he knew where their children were. He had arrived back about an hour ago, but he had not come to gloat. In fact, they hadn't heard a word since he had left.

It made both her and the Doctor _extremely_ unnerved. Especially since the Master had hidden their children from them again. They had no idea where they were.

About ten minutes ago, Rose had been taken away to be cleaned up. She was now clean, showered and in a nice new dress. It was TARDIS blue, and almost matched Lucy's red dress. Unfortunately, it was even tighter than the last one. Her breasts were all but spilling out, and her post-pregnancy belly was even more prominent… even though she could have sworn it had gone down half the size. She did know a thing or two about pregnancy, and after twins, she still should have looked pregnant. Then, after that, she had been taken back, escorted by a guard. This time she was not tied up, only held in place.

And only a few minutes ago, there had been an announcement over the speakers requesting certain people to the bridge

The room was being filled up with Valiant workers and prisoners. Rose was most surprised to see a dirty, ragged, slightly older Jack. He had seemed pretty surprised to see her too. To be honest, Jack looked like he had been through hell, but on seeing her, his eyes filled with both hope and fear. And across the room, she could see the Jones family.

Then the lift doors opened, and the Master strode through, holding a small bundle in his arms. Out the top of the new cloth, she could see the light brown tuft of hair that was her daughter's.

"Freya!" she shouted. Snatching her hand from her guard, she attempted to run to her child, but she was roughly yanked back before she could even take a few steps. Now the guard held her even tighter. All she could do was glair at the Master as he walked past her and up the flight of stairs to the main deck. Though it angered her, she felt slightly relieved now that she could see one of her children… one of them. "Where's Jack?" She shouted at him.

"Right here, Rosie," Jack said, being held not far down from her.

She shot him a quick apologetic smile before turning fiercely back to the monster on his stage. "_Where is my son?!_"

Finally, the Master turned back to her. "Oh, the boy? Yes, a friend of yours is bringing him soon. His name's not Jack anymore. Terrible name, not fitting of his origins. What on Earth possessed you to call him_ that_?" Rose just glared at him. "No, I was thinking of a name a little more suited to a Time Lord. Koschi, maybe? I know it was just a nickname, but I was always quite partial to it."

"His name is Jack," Rose ground out.

"And you won't be seeing 'Jack' after today, until you learn that you do as _I_ say, Miss Tyler. I'm being nice enough to let you live, so you can look after them… you should thank me." Rose just stood her ground, glairing at him with all the fury she had. The Master just shrugged, waving in Sarah Jane, who was carrying another small bundle. "Oh, and speaking of letting people live and die, I'm not sure what to do with this one." Sarah Jane looked around at everyone, her face a stony mask, but the expression was given away by the fear in her eyes. "However, there is one that I do know the fate of… Martha Jones."

He handed Gallifreya off to Lucy and gestured to the doors with a flourish, and turned his back to them. Rose rolled her eyes. Was this guy always one for such dramatics?

Just after his gesture, the doors slid open to reveal a pretty, dark skinned woman dressed all in black. One of the guards behind her gave her a nudge with the butt of his gun, and she started walking slowly up the path towards the Master. The Master turned to look at her, a smug look on his face.

On her way past, she looked about the room. Up at the Master. Over to the Jones's, her family. To Jack. The Doctor. Sarah Jane and her children. Rose could see the surprise on Martha's face when she saw her. She wondered what the companion had heard about her.

Finally she came to a stand still at the bottom of the stairs, and the Master walked half way down to meet her.

"Your teleport device," he said, his hand outstretched. "In case you thought I'd forgotten." With a sour look, she took something that Rose recognised as Jack's Vortex Manipulator from her pocket, and tossed it up to the Master. "And now. Kneel."

Martha did as she was told, not even a hint of defiance left… What was wrong with her? She still had so much left to fight for. Her family were right there, the Doctor, her friend… How could she stand to just give up and let them all be at the mercy of that psychopath?

"Down below the fleet is ready to launch," the Master went on. Rose saw the fear in Sarah Jane's eyes and vaguely remembered a conversation about rockets. "Two hundred thousand ships, set to burn across the universe." He went over to the comm. and spoke into it. "Are we ready?"

"The fleet awaits your signal. Rejoice!" a voice replied.

"Three minutes to align the black hole converters. Counting down!" On the wall, a clock began counting down with loud, digital beeps. "I never could resist a ticking clock," he grinned. "My children, are you ready?"

"We will fly and blaze and slice! We will fly and blaze and slice!" a creepy chorus of child like voices echoes around them.

"At zero, to mark this day, the child, Martha Jones, will die. My first blood. Any last words? No?" He looked at the Doctor. "Such a disappointment, this one. So useless. Days of old, Doctor, you had a companion who could absorb the Time Vortex. A companion who could capture the hearts of a Time Lord and make him weak. A companion who could turn herself so extraordinarily… inhuman." Almost all eyes went to Rose. "Do you want to know what she is? Because I know. I ran some tests on our little pet's DNA. It's quite interesting, I assure you. Of course, how could she still be human after what she did. After carrying the Time Vortex within her for so long, and carrying Gallifreyan children. She should have died."

Rose saw Jack's eyebrows rise when he heard the comment about carrying Gallifreyan children, and his eyes flicked to the Doctor in amusement.

"We can get back to her later." He turned to Martha. "Bow your head." She did so. "And so it falls to me, the Master of all, to establish from this day, a new order of Time Lords! From this day forward-" He stopped when Martha interrupted with a small chuckle. "What? What's so funny?"

"A gun?" Martha said, raising her head.

"What about it?"

"A gun in four parts?"

"Yes, and I destroyed it," the Master said in annoyance. Rose was entirely lost at this point.

"A gun in four parts, scattered across the world? I mean, come on. Did you _really_ believe that?"

"What do you mean?"

"As if I would ask her to kill," the Doctor said.

"Oh, well, it doesn't matter. I've got her exactly where I want her." He pointed the Laser Screwdriver at Martha.

"But I knew what Professor Docherty would do. The Resistance knew about her son. I told her about the gun so she'd get me here. At the right time."

"Oh, but you're till gonna die!"

"Don't you wanna know what I was doing? Travelling the world?" she said, stoking his curiosity.

"Tell me," he sighed, sitting on the steps.

"I told a story, that's all. No weapons, just words. I did just what the Doctor said. I went across the continents all on my own. And everywhere I went, I found the people, and I told them my story. I told them about the Doctor. And I told them to pass it on, to spread the word so that everyone would know about the Doctor."

"Faith and hope? Is that all?"

"No, 'cause I gave them an instruction. Just as the Doctor said." She stood up, hope in her voice. "I told them that if everyone thinks of one word , at some specific time-"

"Nothing will happen!" the Master cried in frustration, jumping up, too. "Is that your weapon?! Prayer?!"

"Right across the world. One word, just one thought, at one moment… but with 15 satellites!"

"What?" the Master paused.

"The Archangel Network," Jack said.

"A telepathic field binding the whole human race together, with all of them, every single person on Earth, thinking the same thing at the same time. And that word… is 'Doctor'."

Behind them, the clock struck zero, and the Doctor's cage began to glow. Rose jumped back in shock as the cage disintegrated and the Doctor himself began to glow.

"Stop it," the Master said, his face contouring into fear. "No, no, no, no, you don't!"

Smiles slowly lit up people's faces and their eyes closed.

"Doctor." The words whispered out of Jack's dirty lips.

"Doctor," Francine said.

Everyone around the room began to say his name. TV's over the walls showed billions of people over the world shouting his name.

"Stop this right now! Stop it!" the Master shouted.

No one listened. Jack said it again, Sarah Jane said it, Martha said it, even Lucy Saxton did. Rose watched as Sarah Jane took baby Jack from the unstable looking woman, and she clung to the banister. She could only imagine what it had been like being the Master's wife for so long.

She looked over at the Doctor, and saw him growing taller, getting younger. He was coming to life again, growing strong.

A grin spread across her face and she looked him dead in the eyes. "My Doctor," she said proudly.

The Doctor smiled, then looked from her to the Master, his face forming into a scowl. "I've had a whole year to tune myself into the psychic network and integrate with its matrices."

"I order you to stop!" the Master shouted at him.

"The one thing you can't do. Stop them thinking." By the time he'd finished speaking, the Doctor was back to his normal self. Martha and Jack let out a relieved laugh.

"Oh, yes!" Rose cried, jumping into the air. By now her guards had let go of her, and she rushed forward so she was out of their grasp. At the same time, she felt the barrier around her children's minds snap, and she joyfully reached out to them.

Still glowing, the Doctor levitated himself up. "Tell me the human race is degenerate now, when they can do this."

While the Master was distracted, Martha ran to her family, and embraced them. And Sarah Jane dashed down the stairs to Rose. Jack came over to them too, and grabbed one of the infant Time Lords from her, while Rose took the other.

"Why am I not surprised," he winked at her.

They were all distracted when the Master cried out. "No!" he shouted, firing the Laser Screwdriver at the Doctor, but he deflected it.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Then I'll kill them!" The Master aimed the Laser at Rose, the twins, Sarah Jane and Jack. "Your little family." Angered, the Doctor held out his arm, and the device flew from the Master's grip. "You can't do this!" he cried in a panic. "You can't do- It's not fair!"

"And you know what happens now," the Doctor said, moving closer to the Master. The Master backed down the stairs, attempting to escape with cries of protest. "You wouldn't listen."

"No!"

"Because you know what I'm going to say."

"No!" the Master cried again, curling into a foetal position at the base of the stairs, against the wall.

The Doctor landed, the light around him fading. Then he walked to the Master, knelt down beside the whimpering man, and wrapped his arms around him.

"I forgive you," he said quietly. And for a moment, it seemed that everything might be fine, but…

"My children!" the Master said in a harsh whisper. Rose curled her son tighter to her, afraid he meant them, but outside, the Toclafane stirred in a flurry of metal.

Cries of, "protect the paradox," were heard all around them.

"Captain!" the Doctor shouted to Jack, jumping to his feet. "The paradox machine!"

"You men, with me," he ordered to the near by guards. He placed Freya into the crook of Rose's other arm, and led the men off with a firm, "you stay here," to her and Martha.

.

"No!" They were all startled by the cry from the Doctor. They turned to him, just in time to see him and the Master disappear in a flash.

"No!" Rose cried. "Doctor?!" She ran forward to where he had been only a second ago. "Where is he? What happened?"

"The Vortex Manipulator. The Master still had it," Martha said in horror. An alarm went off and she rushed to the control panel. "We've got all six billion spheres heading straight for us!"

Everyone made their way to a window and watched as the swarming cloud of black dots made their way towards the ship. Rose curled her children in closer, wishing there was a away she could protect them from this.

"Ahh!" she suddenly cried in pain. She doubled over, grabbing many peoples attention, and nearly dropping her babies. Sarah Jane and Martha rushed to her, taking a baby each. "Ah!" she cried again. The two women stood by her in concern as more people came to help her. By now, she was on her knees.

She felt like something was zapping through her body. The horrid feeling she'd had since she came to this world getting so bad she was about to vomit and break from the pressure at the same time. She whimpered as a fire burned through her, and it was all she could do not to scream in agony.

And then, suddenly, it was gone. She could breath. She could breath better than she ever had in her life. Looking up a moment, she could see through blurry eyes, the swarm of Toclafane vanish right in front of them.

Around her, everyone seemed to pause in relief. And then came a jolt that pulled almost everyone to the ground. Martha passed Jack to Rose, then stood and tried to make her way somewhere. The constant shaking toppled her over, though, and she was caught by the Doctor, who had just appeared.

He shot her a huge grin. "Everyone get down!" he shouted to them. "Time's reversing!" He dropped to the ground with Martha, holding her hand and still grinning like a madman. Suddenly the smile dropped and his face went pale. "Time's reversing!" he whispered in horror. "Rose!" He let go and scrabbled to his feet, shouting her name over again.

Rose's eyes shot up to his panicked face. He was fighting his way over to her. She attempted to get to her feet. It wasn't easy as she was trying to look out for Jack too, and a strange feeling was coming over her. She was getting increasingly dizzier, but still, she struggled to her feet and wobbled towards him.

Papers flew about them, and other objects slid about their feet, trying to trip them over. The constant shaking made their feet unstable and running towards each other seemed like a mission. The desperation grew on the Doctor's face as the smile grew on Rose's. They were so close to each other now. They were nearly there. The Doctor reached out to her, and she used her free hand to reach for him. Their fingers brushed…

And she was gone.

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><p><strong>Don't worry, I promise I won't take so long with the next chapter. You can throw me in a black hole if I do.<strong>

**.**

**Now, just a little bit of shameless promoting. A reminder that I have a facebook page, and a tumblr. (Just replace the '$' with '.' And no spaces).**

**Facebook: www $ facebook $ com /pages/Krazy-Ky-sta-Hatter/211442535611697**

**Tumblr: www $ ky-sta $ tumblr $ com**

**.**

**Especially on tumblr. It would be nice to have more friends on there. I mostly post original stuff. If it's reblogged, it's because I'm bored / interested, or added a comment.**

**.**

**Hope to see you there, and I hope you enjoyed.**


	11. Gains and Losses

_**See. Told you I wouldn't take as long. This chapter is… kind of happy? Anyway, I hope you like it.**_

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><p>.<p>

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**Gains and Losses**

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"Rose!" The Doctor's shout hung in the air. Everything was still and silent now. Everyone looked up at him, the only person in the room standing… a heart broken expression hidden behind a stony scowl.

"Doctor… What happened?" Sarah Jane asked in confusion, staring in horror at her empty arms. Only a second ago she had been cradling Gallifreya to her chest. Now she, her mother, and her brother were gone. They weren't anywhere. They had just… vanished with a strange shimmer.

"The paradox is broken," he said in a low voice. "We've reverted back, one year and one day." He looked up at the clock. "It's two minutes past 8:00 in the morning." He walked up to the control panel and turned on the comms. to let them hear people calling over the radio, asking what happened. It was obvious that they didn't know anything that had happened to them all. "See?" he said, switching them off again. "We're back just after the President was killed, but just before the spheres arrived. Everything's back to normal, and Planet Earth's restored. None of it ever happened… it never was."

"What about the spheres?" Martha asked

"Trapped at the end of the universe." He slowly walked back towards them, hands in pockets and his face cast down.

"But I remember it," Francine said quietly.

"We're at the eye of the storm. The only ones who'll ever know."

"But… what about Rose?" Sarah Jane asked. "What happened to her?"

"When the year started, Rose wasn't in this universe."

"But you said that-"

"It still took time backwards. It may not have sent you back to where you were, but you're different. _You've_ been reverted back, too. Rose wasn't here when this began… she couldn't be here when it ended."

"So, she's back in the parallel universe again?" He nodded. "Will she remember any of this? What about the twins?"

"I don't know," he said, not looking up.

"But there's Daleks back there!"

"I know!" he shouted. He was trying not to think about it, about any of it. Because now that she was gone, there was no way she was coming back. And he couldn't bare to think about what could happen to her, and all that he'd lost. After the year he'd had, it would drive him mental. If only he'd been smart and had been able to get her to the TARDIS on time, she'd still be here.

The heavy, depressing silence in the room was broken when the Master made a run for it, his shoes slapping across the floor. He was stopped at the elevator by Jack, who was just coming out of it.

"Whoa, big fella! You don't want to miss the party. Cuffs," he demanded of the guard. The man instantly passed them to him, and he cuffed the Time Lord's hands behind his back. "So, what so we do with this one?"

"We kill him!" Clive Jones instantly put in.

"We execute him," Tish said.

"No, that's not the solution," the Doctor told them firmly.

"Oh, I think so." They looked over to see Francine with a gun trained at the Master's chest. "'Cause all those… things, they still happened because of him. I saw them."

"Go on! Do it!" the Master egged her on.

The Doctor had cautiously been walking towards her, and now he stood behind her. "Francine, you're better than him," he told her. Carefully, he lowered her shaking hands, and they dropped the gun. Quickly, he took the sobbing woman into his arms. Seeing the Master over her shoulder, he passed her onto Martha, and moved forward.

"You still haven't answered the question. What happens to me?" he asked.

"You're my responsibility from now on. The only Time Lord left in existence."

"Yeah, but you can't trust him," Jack said.

"No. The only safe place for him is the TARDIS."

"You mean you're just going to… _keep_ me?!"

"Wait, are you sure that's safe?" Jack asked. "I mean I wouldn't trust him around anyone, let alone kids. And you're gonna have two of them running ar…" He faded out, looking around the room. "Where's Rose?"

The Doctor looked at him sadly, he opened his mouth to answer and-

_Zap_.

Everyone looked to the middle of the room, where a figure now stood, light fading from around her. She held onto the straps of her bag tightly and looked around in confusion. Her stomach protruded out, covered in a very loose shirt.

"Rose?" Jack said.

After a moment shock, a huge grin spread across the Doctor's face. "Ha ha!" he whooped. He ran over to her and pulled her into a hug. "Rose!" he said joyfully.

"What? I don't understand, how did she come back?" Martha asked.

"The walls must still be sealing themselves. Same events happened back there, and she popped through right at the only point she could. Right here!"

Rose looked up at him, her eyes were slightly glazed and her smile was soft and timid. "I know you," she whispered. The Doctor's face fell. She had reverted back. Right back.

"Yeah. You do. It's me, the Doctor." He remembered that in Mickey's letter it said she wouldn't know who he was.

Rose paused, looking at the ground in concentration. "You're the one Mickey told me to call," she said eventually.

"Yep, that's m-"

BANG!

Eyes flew about the room in panic. Looking between the Master, blood beginning to stain his white shirt, and Lucy, gun in hand and a dead expression. Jack rushed to the woman and prised the gun from her hand and the Doctor left the frightened Rose's side and caught the Master as he fell, lowering him to the ground.

"There you go. I've got you. I've got you," he said.

"Always the women," the Master Joked, his breath harsh.

"I didn't see her."

"Of course you didn't. You got your little girlfriend back. I'm dying in your arms. Happy now?"

"You're not dying, don't be stupid. It's only a bullet. Just regenerate."

"No," he whispered madly.

"One little bullet. Come on."

"I guess you don't know me so well. I refuse."

"Regenerate," the Doctor cried desperately he couldn't believe this was happening. It couldn't. "Just regenerate. Please! Please! Just regenerate! Come on!"

"And spend the rest of my terribly long life imprisoned with you and your alien of a woman and your two little half-breed rug-brats?"

"You've got to," the Doctor pleaded, tears in his eyes. "Come on, it can't end like this. You and me, all the things we've done. Axons? Remember the Axons? And the Daleks? We're the only two left, there's no one else. _Regenerate!_"

"How about that?" The Master said with a smug grin. "I win… Will it stop, Doctor? The drumming? Will it stop?" He gasped heavily, his face contorting in pain… then he didn't move or breathe at all, his eyes falling shut.

It all seemed to crash down on the Doctor at once. Even though he had watched the man dying in his arms, he had never fully expected the Master to actually die. The Master, his life long friend. The only other one who remembered Gallifrey and knew all its secrets.

Tears falling down his cheeks, he pulled the Master's body to him and cradled him as he rocked with grief. No one around him said anything. He could tell that they were all too confused by what was going on, or were letting him have a moment. He was so overwhelmed by the sound of nothing but his sobs, that he didn't hear the faint footsteps making their way towards him. He did notice the hand on his shoulder, and looked up into Rose's sad face.

Gently taking the body from his arms and lying it neatly at the floor, she slid her arms through his and held onto him. He held her back, just as fiercely as he had his friend, crying and taking comfort in the woman he never thought he'd see again.

And they stayed like that, for how long, not even he knew.

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><p><strong>?...DW…?<strong>

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><p>After some time, people had come and taken away the Master's body. Jack at least had the sense to get it taken to the TARDIS. After he came back from that, he gently picked Rose up, then helped the Doctor to his feet, too. The Doctor was quiet, and Rose was looking about with a slightly vacant look on her face. It disturbed him to no end.<p>

"Um, I'm sorry, what was I doing?" she asked. Both men looked at her in disbelief.

"It's okay, Rose, you weren't doing anything," Sarah Jane said, coming over.

"…Oh. Where am I?"

"You're on the Valliant. It's an air ship. You're back in your own universe." The way the woman was talking, it was as if she were trying to reassure a very slow child. Her voice was almost trembling, as if she were upset, or scared.

"My own… I don't understand."

"What's wrong with her?" Jack said, tears in his voice. "Why's she…"

"I had an accident," Rose explained. "I don't know… My memory's a mess… Hey… I... I think I know you. And you." Jack, the Doctor and Sarah Jane gave her reassuring smiles that were laced with unease. She smiled at the Doctor. "Especially you. I see you all the time, in my head… It hurts. Why do you hurt?"

"Because I was gone. But I'm back now. You're here with me," he told her. "Like you're supposed to be." Mickey's letter had said that her brain showed signs of bruising from the lack of contact. It would be a slow recovery, but it should move quicker with him and their children with her. Their children… The _twins!_

"Is no one going to mention that she's pregnant again?" Martha chimed in, joining them.

"Yeah, I was just thinking about that actually," the Doctor said. "Well, not about why, but it only just really hit me that they've reverted back so far that she hasn't even given birth!"

"Who… who's pregnant?" Rose stuttered.

Sarah Jane looked up at the Doctor. "I think we should get her to the TARDIS before we go any further."

"Yeah, might be a good idea," Jack said, looking around at the audience they'd gathered. "How about we jump this horrible airship? Martha, grab your family. Everyone else can meet us back on the ground."

"No, no, I have to call someone," Rose said, going for her bag.

"Yup, that was me, the Doctor. Hello." He grinned at her.

"Oh, sorry," she said. "My memory's a mess. I was in an acci-"

"It's okay, Rose," Sarah Jane told her. "We know everything. Just let us help you now, okay?"

"Okay," she said. She didn't really know who these people were, but she recognised them, and she knew that she could trust them… Except for the woman her age, she didn't recall her at all.

She watched as the one she didn't recognise went off and gathered what looked to be her family, then they were all led down through the halls of the ship. They came to a storage room with a large blue box in it.

Her mouth dropped open, and excitedly, she ran towards the door. She knew this box. She could feel a connection to it. A thrumming in her veins, making her feel more alive than she could ever remember being. Part of that empty feeling had gone away, and she knew it had to do with this.

The Doctor chuckled at her, then stepped forward to open the door and let everyone in. Martha went and sat on the captains chair, looking like she needed a good rest. Jack ran excitedly to the console, working on getting rid of any last damage. He'd already broken down as much as he could, and tossed the metal that had broken the TARDIS out. And Sarah Jane stayed close to Rose, who had a look of awe and happiness on her face. She went to one of the corral struts and placed her hand gently on it.

As for the Jones family, they were looking about with an expression he was all too familiar with. They all looked like they were trying to say something.

"Oh my god!" Tish finally managed to exclaim. "It's - it's - it's-"

"Home," Rose said, a content smile on her face. "This is home."

The Doctor grinned at her. "Yes it is. Your home. My home… And anyone else who wants to stay. This is the TARDIS."

"Time and Relative Dimensions In Space," the words automatically came to her. It made the Doctor grin even more.

That grin was so familiar… she'd seen it before… Suddenly she was overwhelmed by a torrent of images. That smile. Oh, she had seen that grin many times. She knew this man better than anyone. Cared for him so much… Loved him. And from the few memories she'd just gotten, he had loved her.

"Were we a couple?" she suddenly asked, her head tilted to the side. The Doctor almost choked on air, and Jack cracked up laughing.

"Yes," Jack replied.

"No!" the Doctor cried over him. "Well, not exactly. We were kind of… And I guess we kind of acted like one, enough people pointed it out. And we… Bloody hell, how do you explain this one?"

"Commitment issues?" Jack supplied.

"We both… loved each other, but sort of agreed to not say it… properly."

"But…" Another memory flashed through her mind. "I said it… Why was I so sad?"

"Because we had to say goodbye," he said, coming over and wrapping an arm around her. It was sad to see the look on her face, and he wasn't too keen on this subject. "You were in the other universe, and I was here. Trapped. I could only send a message to say goodbye… and it cut off before we could finish."

"But you did love me," she stated. The Doctor's mouth opened and closed, but he was saved from taking when she carried on. "I can tell from the way you looked at me." He just smiled at her in relief.

Suddenly, she winced in pain, tensing up. "Are you alright?" he asked in concern.

"Yeah, just a cramp, I think."

"Ah, actually, it's not," Sarah Jane said, coming over. "Martha, how about you get your family settled into some of the guest rooms."

"Er, yeah. Good idea," she said. "Come on, you lot. Rooms are this way. Let's give these guys some privacy, and get us into some normal clothes." And she led them down the main passage and away.

"Right," Sarah Jane said, turning back. "Rose, this is going to be a huge shock, so I want you to do me a favour. Close your eyes and put your hands on your belly?"

"What? Already?" Jack asked as Rose did as she was told.

"I told you. It was only a few hours after she arrived. It shouldn't be more than an hour longer till she-"

"What is that?" Rose said in confusion. "What's on me?" Her eyes snapped open and she looked down. But she didn't see anything, it looked normal. Her hands resting on her flat stomach… although, it did _feel_ like her hands were further out than they were.

"Rose, that wasn't a cramp. It was a contraction. You don't know it, but you're pregnant."

"Pregnant?!" she cried. "I think I would know if I were pregnant! Look, I know my mind is a mess, but I'm not stupid."

"You can't see that you're pregnant, but you are," the Doctor told her. "You kept forgetting you were, and freaking out when you saw your stomach, so your family put a perception filter on you."

"I'll get it," Sarah Jane said, walking over to her. "It's under your shirt, so don't panic… and, try not to panic when I take it off." And with that, she lifted the shirt and pulled off the little black sticker that was stuck to her stomach.

Instantly, Rose's eyes bulged. "Holy shit!" she squeaked. "I'm a bloody balloon! I'm huge!"

"And still hot as anything," Jack winked at her.

"Not helping, Harkness," Sarah Jane said.

"What the hell am I carrying? A bloody planet?!"

"Twins, actually?" the Doctor grinned.

"But… Oh my god! Who's the dad? I don't even know who the father is!"

"Ah, that would be me, actually. Bit of a surprise, to be honest. Kind of lacking the memories, but I know what happened."

"Too much alcohol?" Jack asked.

"Corrupt Sonic Pulse. Increased adrenalin and desire and lowered fear to the extreme that you would black out and recover to find you'd gone though with something you'd always wanted to do. Well, things they wanted in the nearest vicinity, at least. Although, usually it was to such an extreme that some people were doing things that injured them."

"And you banged Rose. Always knew you two had something."

"Shut it, Jack-"

"Hello!" Rose interrupted. "Can we get back to the fact that I am _pregnant!_"

"Technically, we were talking about you being-"

"Not like that!" She winced again. "Oh my god, am I in labour?!"

"Ah, short answer. Yes."

"You have got to be kidding me!"

Sarah Jane couldn't help but laugh. This was so much better than last time. And at least this time, she was with people who cared for her. Better yet, the Doctor was here. Perhaps this time, it would go as it should have.


	12. Last of the Time Lords

_**Hello! Once again, I am SO sorry this took so long to get out. What with life happening, my liver playing up, work, and people, it's been a little hard to get into the writing. I am also actively procrastinating on some stories, knowing what I'm doing next. And I'm writing a bit on stories I haven't even posted yet.**_

_**And then, to top it off, I have also been putting a lot of effort into one of the original stories I am writing with my best friend. We even have our own website, if you want to check us out. w-w-w. dw8 . co . nz – easy enough address, and it stands for Doctor Who =p**_

_**-So, yeah. Sorry about that, guys.**_

_**Now, onto the (ridiculously) long awaited last chapter.**_

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><p><em>.<em>

_._

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**Last of the Time Lords**

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Rose looked down at the little bundle in her arms. The other little bundle was in the Doctor's arms. He looked so adorable, cuddling the little boy and talking away to him, giving him a finger to play with. There was such an amazing, soft look on his face, and a light in his eyes. He was looking at the boy in complete adoration. The sight was so beautiful it took her breath away.

"Hello, Jack," he cooed.

"Jack?"she said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, you called him that before," he shrugged. "I am _completely_ okay if you want to change it. I mean, honestly, Jack Mickey. Poor boy was doomed with a name like that."

"Hey! Jack Mickey is a great name!"

"All right, have it your way." He grinned cheekily at her and she shook her head, holding back a smile of her own.

"What did I call I call her? This little one?" She looked back to her daughter. "I have so many names in my head. Margaret, Gwyneth, Cassandra, Harriet, Rita, Scooti, Chloe..."

"Margaret and Cassandra? Good god, Rose, what were you thinking?!" he cried aghast, she could tell that at least part of it was mocking.

"I don't know! I just have names in my head. I can't even remember where I know them from! The only one I can place is Shareen. She was my friend when I was a kid. Before all my memories get completely messed up. What's wrong with those names?"

"Well, Margaret was an alien that tried to kill us... repeatedly. And Cassandra was the 'Last Human' and was a down right-"

"Doctor, there are children in this room!" Sarah Jane interrupted him.

"Oh, that's right. The bitchy trampoline..." She said. Jack laughed, causing her to join in, but it slowly faded out. They looked up at her in time to see her gazing out into the distance, her eyes going glassy once more. Her hold on Freya slackened, although she did not let her go. It was a good thing she was still lying down.

"Rose?!"

"Huh?" She looked at them, suddenly awake again. She looked down at the little girl in her arms, as if just remembering that she was there. A look of pure joy and love came over her face. "Oh! Hello, sweetheart," she grinned. She looked back up at the Doctor. "What did I call her?"

The Doctor swallowed and tried to hold back the sadness in his voice. "Freya. You called her Freya. Well, Freya is actually for short. You called her Gallifreya. Gallifrey Aria Tyler."

Once again, everyone in the room had strained smiles on their faces. Trying to be happy for Rose, but their concern tainted it too much.

Martha, who didn't feel she knew her well enough to deserve to comfort her as the others did, stared at her in pity. She had heard so much about this Rose when she was travelling with him. He never gave away much detail, but he always spoke of her so highly, so reverently. Some times it seemed like she was some perfect goddess that she could never live up to. And she was sure that Rose was brilliant. Really, really brilliant... But all she saw was a broken girl. And it was wrong. She could see that this girl - not much younger than herself - should have been strong and fierce.

"Isn't there something we can do, Doctor?" she asked. "To help her with her..." She motioned her hands around her head to indicate what she meant. "All this futuristic stuff in here, there's got to be something."

"Last time, Rose started to get some of her memories back very slowly. It happened naturally..." Sarah Jane told them.

"Yeah, but it would be nice to speed up the process, right, Doc? We want our Rosie back to her usual self."

"Gee, thanks, Jack," Rose rolled her eyes. "And by the way, guys, _she_ is in this room. Maybe wanna include her in this?" They all looked at her sheepishly. "So, tell me. I agree. I want to sort this mess I've got going on upstairs. So what's the deal?"

"Okay," the Doctor said. He handed baby Jack to older Jack and pulled up a chair beside her. "You were on a drug that scrambled your memories. It basically confused the signals to and from the hippocampus. Messed with your long term memory, cut out most of your short term memory while you were still on it. Thing is, I was with you last time when the drug fully cleared your system. Yes, you got memories back in small bursts, either as actual flashbacks, or just subconsciously remembering things. But that was just like... a trickle of the information your brain held. It was like a there was a dam blocking it. And at first it leaked, and then it broke. It broke completely, and that was terrifying. It was a painful process that had you on the ground crying out in pain. I want to avoid that if we can. But if I use any device or medicine we have here, it would have the same result. Accelerating the flow of memories would cause you physical pain from the onslaught of information. And if it was that bad letting it happen naturally, finding a way to do it now could put you into shock."

"So, what are we going to do?" Jack said. "Just let it happen?" The idea didn't appeal to him all that much.

"Well, there is... one thing I could do. Actually, not only would control the flow of the memories, it would help her in other ways."

"What is it?" she said.

"Well, that message Mickey sent over with you. It says that your brain has been bruised, as if by a lack of contact. You also said that you could feel the TARIDS, and you mentioned that you were able to feel me."

"So, she's telepathic?" Sarah Jane said.

"Exactly. I have a theory or two that point towards one event. And if it's true, Rose may not entirely be human anymore."

"Brilliant," she said, rolling her eyes. Martha looked at her, taken aback. That was her only reaction to being told she probably wasn't human?

"But Doctor, aren't Time Lords telepathic too?"

"Yep!" he said, popping the P. "I'm able to access the mind, even of a human. But in a way it's easier if they are telepathic too. There's just one thing."

"What's that?"

"I'd need your permission. And I don't just mean you saying yes because you want to. Permission has to be meant with heart and soul. You can say yes all you want, but your body can still reject me."

"But... You've done it to someone before. I saw you. The woman from the past, the one with blonde hair. You went into her mind. You even said. You were looking for something."

"Reinette," he said quietly. "She was human. It's different with them. Their minds aren't as strong and can't force me out. A telepath, however..."

"It requires you to fully give yourself over," Jack finished. He'd done enough training to know that.

"I don't understand. How would you going into her head be able to help her in other ways?" Martha asked.

"Well, her brain is bruised. Mostly likely from lack of contact. Rose said she could feel me and that it hurt without me there. So we can only assume that without either of us realizing, some sort of connection would have been formed. If I can go into her mind, I may be able to heal some of it. And concerning the memories, I can clear her mind and system of the drug, help put them back in order and control them so it won't be painful."

"So... what exactly are we waiting for?" the blonde asked.

"Are you sure, Rose? You did hear what Jack said. You basically have to trust me completely. No fault, just absolute trust. You have to fully give yourself over to me."

He looked at her, waiting for the rejection. Waiting for her to tell him she couldn't do that. After all, she could barely trust herself, how could she trust him. And with her head all over the place, he wasn't even sure if she quite understood what was happening at any given moment. And indeed, she was looking at him as if she didn't understand. Her brow was furrowed as she looked up at him in confusion.

"I thought I already had," she said.

At first his mouth dropped open as his massive brain tried to comprehend the words he had just heard. When it did, the soft smile that spread across his face was almost instantaneous. He shuffled the chair closer to her and took her free hand in his, stroking it with his thumb. "Sarah, would you mind grabbing Freya? Oh, um, this will probably take a while, you don't have to stick around."

"I'll stay," Jack said. "Don't want the little ones missing mummy and daddy."

"Mmm, me too," Sarah Jane smiled. "Besides, someone has to look after you."

Martha looked about at them all awkwardly. She didn't quite seem to fit in with this little family here. She loved everyone in the room, even the one's she barely knew. But part of her felt so left out. So out of touch. She felt like she didn't quite... belong here anymore. "I'm -I'm going to go check on my family. They've been through a lot. I should see if they're okay."

The Doctor nodded at her gratefully, and she left. He gave Rose a smile, a genuine one, and the smile she returned was radiant. "Ready?" he asked quietly. She nodded and he placed the tips of his fingers on her temples. "Okay, now, open up your mind. Let me in."

Rose closed her eyes and bit her lip. She wasn't exactly sure how she was supposed to do that. She had no idea about how any of this worked. Was she supposed to concentrate on something? Was she supposed to let him in as if there was a door? Then again, they said she had to trust him completely. And she did. She trust him more than she could ever say or know. She would do anything for this man, and she new it just by looking at him. Just by closing her eyes and feeling him beside her. She may not have all her memories, but she had her emotions. Nothing had changed there and it was all she knew as she reached out towards the presence beside her.

And that was what the Doctor entered into. When he entered Rose's mind he was led by a familiar hand and instantly enveloped in unconditional love. He could feel everything Rose felt for him as if it were at the forefront of her mind. For what could have been ages, he just stopped in shock. He just felt. He knew these feelings well, having them himself. Sometimes he felt this so much to the point it was painful. But it was astonishing to feel those emotions reflected back at him just as strongly. He had a feeling that back in his body, he had stopped breathing and his respiratory bypass had kicked in.

Just as he imagined himself with a physical form here, he could see Rose beside him. Smiling at him, her and clasping his. "Alright," he said softly. "Allons-y!"

Together they made their way through her mind. Most of it seemed fine, but soon, as they neared her memories, things became murky. It was a sad truth. You could have the most brilliant mind imaginable, but without memories it was all virtually useless. Everything used some form of memory, information recall, muscle memory, all of it. How could people see how brilliant you truly were when it was erased by the inability to recall. He couldn't stand to see anything like that happen to Rose. Because she... she was utterly _brilliant!_

Determinedly, he began to clear away the fog. Bit by little bit, he cleared her mind and put things straight. They watched each memory unfold, they laughed and they sat in silence as they passed by. They both shared in the memories, making small comments about them. They even discovered memories she normally wouldn't remember. Most things from before she was three were gone for good, the brain not developed enough to store memories at that age, but still she remembered things from when she was so young she had forgotten it. They both watched with red cheeks as the memory of the 'Splash Planet Fiasco' was uncovered. The one time they were both totally unable to control their reactions and desires. The day they had conceived the twins. Then, after her mind was back in order, he shared some of his memories with her. He gave her his view of the memories she'd lost coming over. She would never remember her first time coming back through to this world and giving birth. But she would have what he gave her. And even though the memories were horrible and tainted with fear, she was grateful for them.

It seemed like it had been years that they were inside her head. It seemed like that had taken her entire life time. And indeed, seeing as they had just seen all of it, it really did. When they opened their eyes, they found their hands entwined, and their heads pressed together. Smiles played on their lips and they looked at each other in pure happiness, a familiar light in their eyes.

"Doctor," she grinned. He grinned back at her, then planted a kiss on her nose, then her cheeks. Rose was giggling and squirming so much he wasn't able to land his final blow, but he was sure he could get her again later. A small humming giggle escaped his lips and he drew back. Slowly becoming aware of the room around them, they noticed it was empty. "Where is everyone?" she asked. "How long did we take?"

"Erm... about five hours," he replied after checking his time sense.

"Only that long?"

"Time works differently in the mind. A thousand thoughts can cross your mind in a second. Telepathy can be no different sometimes."

"Should we go see the others now?"

The Doctor looked down at her, still dressed in one of the TARDIS's medbay gowns. She wasn't exactly all that clean either. "How about we get you a shower and in some proper clothes, first," he said. "I really would like to get some tests done considering your genetics and other things, but that can wait for a day or so. You've been through a lot."

She smiled and reached up, cupping his face in her hand. "So have you. You've had an entire-"

"Shh, it's alright," he told her. "Come on. Let's get you sorted." He grabbed a robe from a cupboard and brought it over to her. She sat up and he draped it over her, then helped her to her feet, holding her up as she wobbled.

"You know," she said. "I'm probably going to need some help with that shower."

She laughed as he stammered and turned bright red.

* * *

><p><strong>?...DW...?<strong>

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><p>Not long after, Rose walked into the console room fresh and clean, the Doctor's hand in hers. They were greeted warmly by everyone in there. Martha's mother even went to her and gave her a hug, along with Jack and Sarah Jane. But there was one thing she noticed immediately.<p>

"Where's Jack and Freya?"

"Oh, they needed a sleep, so the TARDIS made a nursery for them," Jack said. "We chucked them in there about an hour ago. Little runts have a lot of energy for newborns."

"I'll have to go check on them," she said, part of her being anxious separated from them.

"They'll be okay for now," Sarah Jane assured her. "For now, I think we have some guest who would probably like to go home." They looked up at the Jones family sitting and standing about the room.

"Ah! Right, yes! Good idea!" he said. "Jack, mind giving me a hand?" He began to dash around the console, pushing buttons. Jack followed suit, and even Rose jumped in to do a few things here and there. The memories of the Doctor teaching her still fresh in her head. She missed the times like these. Part of her hopped they would stay this way.

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A few trips later, and it seemed like Rose's hopes weren't entirely true. They had dropped the Jones family off first, filled with tearful partings and many hugs. The Doctor had gotten close to them over the last year... or whatever that had been.

Next they had dropped off the Captain, who had a team of his own that he insisted he needed to look after. It was sad to see him leave again, seeing how she had missed him so much. But she had promised that they would pop in for visits quite often.

Sarah Jane had also made the Doctor promise to visit. She had given them lots of hugs and said tearful goodbyes before she mentioned something about her son and dashed off... It was a little weird, Rose thought she didn't have any kids.

The last stop had been a surprise. Martha had gone back to say goodbye to her family, and to check up on some people she'd met on her travels. When she had walked back in, she had said that she was going to stay behind. The Doctor seemed a little upset, but accepted the reasoning she gave. She had then turned to Rose and apologised for how she'd thought of her before meeting her. Then they exchanged numbers and hugged before she departed.

And now it was just the two of them. Them and their children.

They looked down at the two bundles, still sleeping peacefully in the cot. Rose had gasped in awe when she first laid eyes on the nursery. It was absolutely huge and filled with everything imaginable. The amount of toys and books was astounding. And to make things better, it was attached to a room she had never seen before, but it had some of her old things in there. Nervously rubbing the back of his head, the Doctor had explained that it was his room, and that the TARDIS seemed to have taken it upon herself to move Rose in with him. Rose had just laughed and kissed him on the cheek.

She smiled softly as she brushed the already rather long hair away from her daughters face. She could hardly believe that all this had happened. That she was here. She was back with the Doctor. She was back travelling with him in the beloved TARDIS. And here they were, watching their children sleep. A family... A sigh escaped her lips.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing. I'm just a little sad I don't get those memories from that other time. I mean, I know they weren't all that nice, and that this time went better... But still, it would have been nice to remember."

"I tried to bring them back. I really did," he told her. "Thing is, you brain doesn't even store those memories, because technically, you never had them. When the time reversed you went with it, since you weren't there to being with. The spatial ramifications tried to fix themselves when the time-lines reset resulting in a multi-"

Suddenly he was forced into silence as Rose pressed her lips to his. "Alright, you. Shush now," she giggled. "I'm already confused."

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><p><em><strong>And that's all folks! Thank you so much for sticking with me through it. And, as usual. *Does happy dance of the finished fic* - Yes, that's a thing. I always do the thing.<strong>_

_**I know that finishing a story means I get to add a new one, but I think I'll hold off for now. Get a few more stories done and finished. I'll still be writing the un-posted ones as well, but at least you won't have to wait so long for their updates. I have some more Doctor Who, some Supernatural, and some Sherlock in the works... And about half a dozen other shows too.**_

_**Anyway, thanks SO much guys! You all mean a lot to me. I hope you enjoyed the story.**_


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